Dark Link
by Reality Obscured
Summary: To not have a purpose is agonizing...but what if the purpose is just unkown, or that we have to find it? This is reposted and chaptered, considering the last one posted with multiple errors and it was way too long for one chapter!
1. Chapter I

**Title:** Dark Link

**Author:** Reality Obscured

**Author Notes:** Normally, I prefer to keep the continuity in a fan fiction straight with what has happened in the coinciding game/movie/whatever. In this instance, however, I'm basing the major storyline on a dream I had. Undoubtedly I will get flames, because I know some of my comrades here didn't enjoy it too much, but I was urged to write and post it nonetheless.

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Chapter I

He felt it when his body brushed up against the land. How long the underwater currents had tossed him about he didn't know, nor did he know how far they had carried him. He had been only half-conscious the entire time, his mind lingering somewhere between consciousness and the darkness of limbo. He slowly opened his eyes, only to shut them again when bright sunlight invaded his vision. Sunlight? Yes, it was the sun, which meant to him that he was outside. He rolled over so he was on his front instead of his back, pushing himself up with his hands so that he could gather his feet beneath him to stand.

He opened his eyes to gaze upon something that he had never seen before, and yet the memory of it was imprinted upon his mind as clearly as if he had known the field all of his life. He was on the bank of Lake Hylia, looking out over the water in amazement. He had never been out of the Water Temple before, and why he was out he didn't question it. What forces were at work, he didn't want to know. He was out, and that was all that mattered to him at the moment.

Dark Link. He had no other name. He needed no other name, for he was created with but one purpose: to destroy Link, the Hero of Time. He had been created to be Link's exact, imbedded with all the skills that Link possessed as well, in order to stop Link from going any farther into the Water Temple than he was supposed to. He was made to be Link's exact shadow, and hence he appeared as a shadow would. In the end, Link had defeated Dark Link, and Dark Link had been driven back into the depths of the Water Temple.

He didn't know who his creator was, but he didn't care, either. Whoever his creator was, though, Dark Link supposed that he was nothing less than a fool. Not only had he been given Link's appearance, sword, and shield, but he had also been given all of Link's memories up to the point in time when Link had made his appearance in the Water Temple. The only thing that he hadn't been given had been the magic that Link possessed. Magic isn't something that could be copied, and his creator should have known that, and it was the magic that had defeated him in the end.

The purpose that he had been given since his creation still flowed throughout him. The overwhelming urge to destroy Link clawed at every ounce of his being. It was his purpose, and he couldn't rest until he fulfilled it. His left hand tightened into a fist, and he looked down at it, tensing the muscles tighter and tighter until he was sure that, if he could bleed, he would have bled through even his glove. He had made his resolve, and he was going to accomplish it. He looked up past the rolling hill toward what he knew as the exit from the area of Lake Hylia to the Hyrule Field.

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He had been walking for the entire day through Hyrule Field. Though he had most of Link's memories, the memories remained deep withdrawn into him, not allowing him to see any of them other than brief glances and feelings. Feelings. It was something new to Dark Link. He couldn't feel the cold, nor could he feel the heat. But it wasn't those kinds of feelings that he was beginning to know, though not understand. Since he had been walking a name had suddenly appeared inside his thoughts. Zelda. A few other names appeared. Saria. Shiek. Ganondorf. All of these names had different feelings

attached to them.

As it always would, day grew into night. Dark Link found himself walking under the light of the full moon now. The sound of obnoxious giggling filled the air. What looked like skeletal beings started to dig themselves out of the ground.

They were Stalchild, dead spirits of long since past that still remained within their skeletal bodies. The night was their territory, and anyone out in the night was an invader to them. Dark Link didn't draw his sword. He continued to walk, disgusted thoroughly by the creatures. Sure, they had bony bodies and red eyes that glowed, but did they really think that they were going to scare him?

Two Stalchild followed him for what seemed like over an hour, keeping their distance from him. They acted as if they didn't know what to make of this newcomer, and truly they were confused. Finally, it seemed unanimous among them. This newcomer had the body form of those things called Hylians. That was all that they needed to know. One of the Stalchild sunk back into the ground, only to come up again directly in front of Dark Link, it's right claw raised to strike. It got the business end of a sword through its skull for that maneuver.

Dark Link pulled the sword out of the Stalchild's skull, letting the Stalchild's body disintegrate back into the ground. He turned around, gracefully sending the sword blade through the body of the second Stalchild behind him. He didn't have time to be bothered by these things. But it seemed as if the Stalchild had other plans. Instead of the normal two Stalchild that usually appeared in the place of the fallen ones, three came up, limping toward Dark Link, their red eyes glowing menacingly, their skeletal claws brandished. All three were disposed of in less than a minute.

Then, the sound of a horse caught Dark Link's attention. The neighs of the horse were nearby, though Dark Link couldn't see it. Something coursed through him. Another one of those feelings that he had inherited from the memories of his better half. Pity, and the need to save this animal. Dark Link tried to turn and walk away, but the feeling nagged him all the harder the farther he walked from the sound. Growling to himself, he turned and began to walk toward the sound of the screaming horse.

After a minute, he found the horse. The horse was a beautiful black stallion, it's mane and tail black as well, looking as if every strand was made of smooth silk. The stallion almost blended in well with the night, and if it hadn't been for the full moon Dark Link was sure that the horse would have been looked over completely if it hadn't been making all that noise. Surrounding the stallion was its reason for all that noise. Twenty Stalchild stood around the horse, giggling their obnoxious laughter as they slashed at the animal. Every now and then a Stalchild would be struck down by one of the horse's hooves, or the horse would head-butt he creature, sending it flying backward.

At first, Dark Link wondered why the horse didn't just run, but then he saw why. There wasn't a chance of running.

The Stalchild had it backed into a corner, and some of the Stalchild that were surrounding it were easily the size of a grown man, or even taller. The horse didn't have a fair fight.

Dark Link jumped forward, brandishing his sword high in the air, slashing downward on the first Stalchild. The others turned and looked his way, though not for long. Several more received the blade of his sword through their skulls, and several were discombobulated, yet they still walked around, headless as they were. Though they were taller, Dark Link found that they were no stronger than their smaller halves. Soon all twenty Stalchild were sent back into the ground from whence they came.

Casually, Dark Link looked over to the horse, who's eyes were locked squarely on his. Strange thing... Dark Link felt this strange feeling of pride inside of him for saving this animal. He frowned, trying to force the feeling from him.

The only reason he did a good deed was because of the half of him that was Link. If there was a reward for saving this piece of horse flesh, he didn't want it. He turned and walked away, sheathing the Dark Master Sword back in its sheath on his back.

He stopped, realizing something. There was this feeling in his arms and legs that he hadn't felt before. He knew what it was, but he didn't understand why he felt it. If he was a shadow, then he shouldn't feel exhaustion or tiredness.

Yet here he was, feeling very much so tired. He felt...sleepy... He knew he needed somewhere to rest, but the Hyrule Field wasn't the safest of places at night. His eyes scanned the field. In the distance he caught the glimpse of light from what appeared to be windows. He started to walk that direction, but something made him take a quick glimpse over in the horse's direction.

The horse was not there. He had not even heard it when it had walked off.

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Dark Link strode into Lon Lon Ranch, keeping looking over the buildings as he walked. The inside light was visible in the window, so it appeared that someone was awake inside. The building to his right, however, had no windows. He'd take his chance there. He opened the door and walked in. He found himself in a stable of some sort, yet the smell of it didn't fill his nostrils as it would any normal person. This confused him. He could feel exhaustion, yet he could not smell nor feel heat or cold? He was still a shadow but something else all the same. It confused him too much.

Finding some bales of hay in the corner, he sat on it, resting back on it with his hands clasped across his middle.

He'd sleep only for a couple of hours. He supposed that would be all he would need.


	2. Chapter II

Chapter II

Daylight came, and Dark Link was still sound asleep on the hay. When Malon had walked in, she had gotten the surprise of her life to find him sitting there. He was what appeared to be a shadow, and yet she could see him almost full form as any Hylian would be. His features weren't very distinguishable, still in a shadowy manner. Unsure as to who he was or why he would be here sleeping on the hay, she took out a pitch fork and poked him lightly, just enough to try and get him awake.

Jarred out of his sleep by the unexpected touch, Dark Link jumped to his feet, unsheathing his sword in the same maneuver. Malon found herself standing with the shadow sword's tip almost touching her throat. It was then that she could see his eyes, glowing red as they were, and she could just make out his features. It was then she knew who he was. Link had told her stories about his adventures, and she knew that this could only be...

"You're Dark Link..." She said. "...aren't you?"

Dark Link didn't grace her with an answer. He just nodded in reply. A name did come to mind, however. Malon.

Perhaps Link had known this girl? He felt another name come to mind. He supposed it was associated to this girl. Talon.

There were feeling surrounding those names, too. The feeling surrounding Talon's name wasn't much, more of a humorous joke that could still be laughed about. The name around Malon's, however... Dark Link could sense that Link probably liked this girl more than as a friend. That was what the feelings told.

"I'm...Malon." Malon took a deep breath, hoping it wouldn't be her last. If Link's stories about Dark Link was true, then it was himself, yet as evil as Ganondorf could make it. "I've heard about you, but I won't say anything to anyone if you want to go."

This girl is smart, Dark Link thought. He removed his sword from where it was pointed and sheathed it, walking toward the door. He placed his hand on the door knob and turned it, opening the large wooden door, letting the sunlight flood in. However, as soon as a ray of sun touched him, he felt pain. Immense pain that he hadn't felt before when he had first awakened in the water a day ago. The sunlight had not hurt him then, so why did it hurt him now? Sunlight invaded his vision as well, temporarily blinding him. He shut the door and backed up quickly, soon feeling the wall against his back.

When his vision finally cleared so he could see clearly again, he saw Malon looking at him strangely.

"You can't go out into the sun, can you?" She asked. "It's probably because you're a shadow. I've never known a shadow to last in the sun very long."

Dark Link knew that she was right. It had been close to dusk when he had awakened, and he had felt the pain when the sun had touched him before it had grown dim in the sky. That meant he could only travel at dusk and night. Movements from Malon caught his attention. She was doing something that was the last thing he expected someone to do. There were a few windows in the stable where sunlight could come through, and she was walking around, closing the shutters on the windows.

His confusion only grew larger at this.

"I don't like to see anything in pain, even evil beings like you." Malon walked over to the door. She paused with her hand on the door knob, looking down at the floor, as if she wanted to say something more and couldn't. Finally, she opened the door and walked out.

Dark Link couldn't understand. Or, more firmly, he was made to where he shouldn't understand. His life was young in the world. At best he was only a year old or so, and the only understanding he had that he could be sure of was that he was meant to fight. To fight and to kill Link. To watch her do something that meant that meant caring made him feel...

A strange feeling inside. He didn't know what it was, nor could he find the thoughts that accompanied it. This feeling didn't come from Link's memories. They...

They...those feelings...they were his own...?

Never had a day been longer. It was his first actual experience with a day, he supposed. The time in the Water Temple that passed meant nothing. Time was nothing, and he was nothing to time. The two refused to care about each other.

Or, to the point, he refused to care about time. He refused it. To him, time was something to be loathed and to be rid of.

Malon had not come into the stable the rest of the day. Dark Link was grateful for that. If she had come in...that only meant more of the feelings that he didn't want to feel. When he felt them, he felt unlike himself. Unlike the creature that was to fulfill his destiny. No. He had a destiny, and he would fulfill it. No other creature would stop him from doing so. He stepped outside the door, feeling the shadows of the night creep over him, moving through him like an old friend that had been long forgotten only to have been found once again years later. He was a shadow amongst shadows. That was how it was to be.

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It was that night Dark Link found that if he walked just so he made no sound, and it was his silence that kept the Stalchilds undisturbed in their eternal graves. It was not too long before he made his way finally to the immense wall surrounding both Hyrule Market and Hyrule Castle. It was easy, making it up and over the wall, and even easier to move through the marketplace streets without being noticed, even by the nighttime dogs that seemed to trot everywhere. Out in the dark, two young lovebirds cooed words of devotion and promise to one another, ignorant of the silent being that crept among the shadows toward the dirt road that led to the main gates of the castle...

Dark Link knew he could have saved time and walked through the very midst of the guards without any hesitation, for he knew by sheer ingrained knowledge that Link was the only one who could cause pain to him, the only one who could defeat him. All other weapons, save those of magical extent, would pass right through his shadowy form. That is, if they were lucky enough for him to stand still long enough for that to happen... If their lives would be long enough for them to see it...

Yet, instead, he slunk past the guards, through the small garden field just outside the gates, and over the moat, moving up through an open castle window and into the empty hall beyond. The hall was dark. Night had far from disappeared.

This was to Dark Link's advantage. He would not be noticed as easily, if anyone cared to notice him at all. The sound of footsteps behind him alerted him, and he hit in a corner, fitting in perfectly with the rest of the shadows. The footsteps were too light to be a guard's. Someone else..

Yes. Someone else. Someone else that was none other than Princess Zelda herself. She held a torch in one hand and a book in the other. It was not the book nor the princess that made his mind turn. It was the torch. If the light of the torch crossed him, it would not force him to move like it did the other shadows. He wanted to find Link by surprise, not by force this time. He waited as Zelda passed by... But the torch did not come his way. Luck. No. He did not believe in luck. It was fate at work. The princess wandering the halls at this time of night was...interesting to say the least.

There was no drawing force leading him to Link, so Dark Link had to find him on his own, yet maybe Zelda would come in handy...

Dark Link followed her discretely as she made her way down the hall and to her room. The two guards standing outside her door didn't see Dark Link as he followed Zelda through the double-door entrance to her bed chamber. Once inside, Dark Link found his way to a corner to hide once again in the shadows. The two occupants of the room...

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Zelda sat down on her bed next to her blond friend. He had come to her in the dead of night asking her many strange questions she had little idea of how to answer, but she would not fail him in his search. The castle library had many books that held many answers. She may have found one that would help him on his search for the truth of what had happened only days before. Many days had passed for him, yet only three had passed for Hyrule.

She opened the book and pointed to a particular page. On the page was a picture of a mask. "Is this the mask you were speaking of, Link?"

Link nodded solemnly. On the page was a detailed drawing of none other than Majora's Mask. He had thought himself gone from this future forever when he had placed the Master Sword in the Pedestal of Time for the final time. Yet, when he had returned from his adventures in Termina, he found himself once again a grown-up in this time, Epona once again a grown horse, and the world only three years older than when he had defeated Ganon. He placed all the blame on Majora's Mask. No other power in Termina could have returned him to this time.

"I was sure Majora's Mask was only a legend, as many of the masks you spoke of were." Zelda said, placing her fingers on the page gently. She smiled. "I suppose I should have learned by now to keep nothing in legend."

"It had to have been the mask that returned me here." Link tightened his fist, looking at his gloved hand as he did so. If he could have seen his knuckles, he knew them to be white. "I don't understand why or how, but I know."

Zelda took his hand in her own. "The power of the Sages can send you back to your time, even without the Master Sword in hand."

Link looked at her hand. "I don't want to be sent back. Not until I find out why I'm here. If there is a reason, I will find it. I have a purpose here."

Dark Link felt it when Link's feelings of purpose flooded through him. They were so strong! He had no idea that something besides hatred could possibly be of such a strength as this! It made him...think over his own sense of purpose.

If Link ended up destroying him once again, then what would happen? Would he still go on to reform only to try and kill again, or would he disappear forever back into the waters and magic of the Water Temple that Ganondorf had created him from?

If he indeed destroyed Link, then... What could he do afterward? He had no...purpose...other than to kill...

He existed only to kill...?

No... There had to be more to it than that! He lived, didn't he? Living things have more purpose to their lives!

Yet, he didn't live... No. He didn't live. He was a shadow. Link's shadow. An echo. Echoes had no other purpose than to return, to drown out the force that created it. Dark Link felt it when the hilt of the Dark Master Sword slide from his now limp hand. He had to have more purpose than just to kill. He had to... If not, once he succeeded in his purpose, what of him then?

Link leapt do his feet, putting himself in between Zelda and the unknown invader. The Gilded Sword, which he had been able to keep after his adventures in Termina, was unsheathed quickly and in his hand. This action brought Dark Link back to his senses. He gathered up the fallen Dark Master Sword in his hand, securing it in his grip as he started to take a step forward into the dim light of the room. His thoughts caused him to stall before he could take that crucial step. He had to know what would happen if he killed Link... He had to know what would happen to him!

Dark Link forced the sword back into the sheath and ran to the only window of the room, crashing through the thin glass and falling downward feet first toward the moat.

Unable to remove his attention from the window, Link barely heard it when the guards pulled the doors open and entered into the room. Had he seen what he had thought he had...? It could be! He had killed... He had killed it, hadn't he? Surely he had!

Zelda motioned toward the window to the guards. "He jumped through the window. Outside in the courtyard, quickly!"

The guards nodded and turned around, running out of the room and down the hall. No doubt the guards below had already been alerted to the presence of the unwanted intruder, and it was no question that several guards would probably be searching the marketplace as well if the intruder could not be found around or in the castle. Zelda turned to Link, who still stood there gripping the Gilded Sword tightly. She used to muse how much it looked like a short sword in his hands, yet now it looked like a deadly weapon ready to strike.

Yet the owner of the sword was far from ready to use the weapon as it was intended. His appearance was nothing less of looking as if he had been struck by some shock.

"Link?" Zelda touched his shoulder lightly. Nothing. No answer. "Link, do you know who it was?"

Link found himself nodding, though his mind wanted to scream a different answer. He thought he knew who it was.

Whether or not he knew for sure was questioning. He sheathed the Gilded Sword, walking over to the window and placing his hands on the window seal, leaning over and looking out it down to the moat. Though there were many lights lighting the castle courtyard, there were still many dark, shadowy places that he -no, it- could still hide in.

"Who was it?" The princess prompted him.

"I think it was..." Link started to say. It took him a full ten seconds more before he could answer. "...Dark Link."

Zelda gasped, her eyes going wide as well. She knew as much as Link who Dark Link was. As Sheik, she had been able to infiltrate the Water Temple far enough to where she had gone all the way up to the third floor of it. She had dared to venture into the locked room where Dark Link resided. She had nearly been killed by the shadowy form of Link before she had finally found a way to escape. Dark Link had guarded the Long Shot, and without the Long Shot it was impossible to get to the boss of the Water Temple, Morpha. Impossible.

"You...killed him, didn't you?" She asked.

Link took a deep breath, clearing his thoughts as to what had happened that day in the past. "When I struck the final blow, he cried out in pain. I barely had a last glimpse at his glowing red eyes before he sank back into the water of the floor. Then, the entire room changed. I supposed it was an illusion conjured up by Ganondorf and, since Dark Link didn't reappear, I supposed, too, that I had killed him."

"Maybe he didn't die." She said. "Only injured."

Yes. That had to be it, Link decided. Only injured. That would explain why Dark Link didn't disintegrate before his eyes as all his other enemies that he had defeated had done. But, a question plagued him.

"Why didn't he kill me?" He asked Zelda, mentally hoping that she had some sort of answer. "He...hesitated. We heard him drop his sword. He would have been able to kill both me and you easily. Why did he...?"

Zelda smiled. This was no the time to smile, but a smile formed on her face all the same. She placed her hand on Link's, and Link looked at her, questioning. She said, "Maybe that's your purpose here. To find out why."

Link nodded once slowly, looking out the window once again. Maybe that was his purpose for being here. Dark Link had returned for some reason, and Link had returned for a reason as well. Maybe his reason was to rid Hyrule of Dark Link.

Yet, why did he feel, then, it to be something more than that? Perhaps it was something more. He'd find out. He'd leave in the morning. He didn't know if Dark Link could travel in the daylight or not. He was sure he would find out.

The Water Temple would be his first ground to search. He needed to find out how Dark Link had survived in the first place.

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The day traveled slowly along, but whether it was day or night, Dark Link did not care. The sunlight nor the moonlight affected him this day. He had returned to the Water Temple, not finding it any different than it had been the last time he had been there. The Sages liked to change nothing, he figured. The water had all drained out, but he fixed that.

Soon, once again the Water Temple was filled with water to the third floor, and he was able to reach the doorway that led to "his" room.

The moment he stepped inside the large, barren room, the illusion that he had known before very well appeared. He walked over to the tree in the center of the room and stood under it, just as he had waited when Link had first appeared to him. He touched the tree with one hand. It felt real. It was there. He kneeled down and ran his hand through the water.

It was there as well. If it felt real, then was it real? He placed his hand on the shadowy fabric of his tunic. He could feel it just as well as he could the other things in the room. Did that mean he was real?

Yet the other things in the room...the water, the tree, and even the sky, was all an illusion. He knew he could not be an illusion, for he could leave this room and still be him as he was now. Was puzzled him was that he had never thought about this before. During Ganondorf's rule, he hadn't cared about what happened to him. He only cared about one thing. To kill Link. Now, he found himself thinking about so much more. So much more...

He heard the familiar sound of a door opening and, once again, the all too familiar sound of metal bars closing over the only two doors of the room. The way the person walked, the way he sloshed the water with his boots, sounded familiar as well. Link. Dark Link knew it. He hadn't expected him to come here, but he wouldn't fight him. No, not until he found out what he needed to, and he wasn't finding anything out by kneeling here with his hand in the water.

Link approached the figure kneeling in the water. This wasn't how he had expected to find Dark Link, not that he had expected to find him at all. He drew the Gilded Sword from its sheath and held it down at his side, ready to use it if necessary. He was surprised when Dark Link spoke. Dark Link's voice...save for only slightly deeper, it sounded just like him!

"Sheath your sword! I won't fight." Dark Link said, now looking down at his reflection in the water. He showed no surprise when he heard the smooth sliding sound of the Gilded Sword being replaced in its sheath.

"You came to kill me earlier." Link said, knowing his words to be the truth, then asked. "Why didn't you? You didn't even raise your sword against me."

Dark Link clenched his fist, closing his eyes, and beyond that, closing his mind tot he innate urge to sink his sword deep within Link's flesh. Ganondorf had created that objective well. He did not want Link to be here, that to be sure. It was hard for him to control the urge with Link being this close. One the urge was momentarily fought off, he relaxed the tension in his hand, loosening it.

"You..." Dark Link opened his eyes. "You have a sense of purpose, do you not? A sense of...being?"

Link wasn't sure if he understood. "Nobody knows what their purpose is."

"You know who you are. You know that you are the Hero of Time." Dark Link said. "You were born with a destiny. I was created with only one purpose, and it was given to me."

Link thought for a moment, venturing through his thoughts for an answer to this half-riddle Dark Link was speaking in. This was about purpose, and, though Dark Link had heard him and Zelda speaking, that could not have possibly changed Dark Link's state of mind. Link didn't understand.

Dark Link stood up abruptly, casting his hard gaze on link, and Link could see that he was enraged. "Don't pretend you don't understand! Understand this, Link. Ganondorf made me to be your shadow. To make me powerful he infused a small amount of the Water Temple's magic in me. That's the reason I live. The Water Temple heals it's own."

Link listened on, doing his best to comprehend everything fully. Everything needed to be understood.

"I am your shadow. I contain all of your past memories, thoughts, and feelings you had during the time before you fought me the first time. Even your irrefutable need for a purpose. I have but one purpose, and after that purpose, what then?"

Dark Link turned away, his hands clasped into tightened fists yet again. Why had he told one he considered his enemy, he did not know, and yet he had. Strange. He did feel as if a thousand pounds had been removed from him. He felt...better? Was better the true word for the situation? It seemed to fit good enough. It fit it very well. If only he hadn't turned and looked at him. If only...

Looking at Link had forced upward the urge to destroy him. He tried to bury the feeling once again.

It was now that Link understood. He understood all too well the need of purpose. Even when he believed himself to be a Kokiri he had known he was waiting for his destiny. If it was true Dark Link had his feelings, then he could still only imagine what the possibility of fulfilling his one and only purpose would contain. To not have a destiny or a reason to continue, and yet continuing all the same... It was too horrible for Link to want to imagine. It would be his ultimate reason for death.

"Your only purpose is to kill me." Link sighed. "I won't allow that to happen."

"I refuse to die." Dark Link replied. "Seems we are both at a loss."

"You stay in the Water Temple, then. If you leave..."

Dark Link looked toward Link again, the red glow of his eyes brightening to a blood red intensity. Link held back to not flinch under the cold, forceful glare seeming to say 'You dare?' and 'You expect me to stay?' at the same instant. Dark Link was a dangerous being, Link knew, and far more dangerous when crossed the wrong way. Killing was not his fear. Dying was not his fear, either. If there was a fear, then it would surely be what he had just revealed.

Link nodded. "I won't make you stay, but if you begin trouble I will come after you."

The red-eyed shadow showed nothing, not phased by the words. Let Link come after him. He would find nothing, and he would see nothing. Dark Link would do as he pleased, no words of otherwise moving his direction or thoughts. After all, how does one command, or control, his own shadow? How does one catch his own shadow? It couldn't be done.

The metallic clack of locks coming undone sounded, and the iron gates covering the doors slid back out of sight.

Link looked at the now unlocked door behind him, then switched his gaze back over to his shadowy double, who appeared annoyed now by his intrusion.

"Go." Dark Link said slowly. "Leave."

Link did as he had been told, however hesitant he was to turn his back on his evil version. Dark Link watched the Hylian leave, his eyes narrowing by degrees. When the door closed, he unsheathed the Dark Master Sword and, with a yell filled with more anger than he thought he knew possible, plunged the sword's blade deep into the tree. The illusion around him faded, leaving the room bare and him alone.

Alone.

He shouldn't even be alone! The feeling of being alone wasn't his. He wasn't...alive. Living things had blood, skin, a heart...

A heart...


	3. Chapter III

Chapter III

It had been nearly five days in total. Every day he could hear footsteps fall on the sand at the bottom level of the Water Temple, and every day it would be Link. The same. Dark Link had come to expect it even on the short notice. Never did either care to make contact with one another. There would be no need. Moreover an unspoken truce passed between them.

Neither proceeded to step out of his boundaries. Link because of his wonder. Dark Link because his reasons were his own.

Yet Dark Link discovered a restlessness inside of him. Of course, he found, to his displeasure, once again part of Link was seeping through. So he left, passing right under Link's nose without the Hylian noticing at all. Dark Link laughed mentally, might've almost laughed out loud if he would have wanted to, at the thought of the great Hero of Time noticing nothing.

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Knowing what time of day it was wasn't high on his priority list, yet, as luck would have it, it was the beginning of nightfall. He walked beneath the waves on Lake Hylia's bottom as easily as if he would have been wearing the Iron Boots.

Wading out of the water to the sanded beach, he came out of the water completely dry. Such as it was being a shadow. If it weren't for the fact that he knew what the word wet meant, then he wouldn't have known about it at all.

A sharp neighing cry drew his attention upward the bank several feet. Standing there was the magnificent black stallion from before, its piercing gaze focused upon Dark Link, who stared back with equal intensity. The stallion reared, shaking his mane roughly as he whinnied again, then settled himself back to all four hooves. Neither one gave in the challenge of wills, and the end of the challenge never seemed to come, neither one looking away. Dark Link walked forward, raising his hand and placing it on the horse's muzzle. He could feel greatness flowing through the beast.

Maybe this was destiny that they met. If it was, then let it be so. He didn't care much about it. This horse was faster than him. He could cover much greater distance by horseback than he could by walking alone. There was no saddle or bridle. No matter. He could still get around.

Holding out his hand, a rope, appearing as shadowy as himself, appeared in his hand. Fashioning a bridle from it was none too difficult. Dark Link slipped it on the horse's head, positioning it as it should be. The horse gave no fuss when Dark Link climbed on his back and took the reins in hand. Squeezing lightly the horse's sides with his legs, he urged the beast forward.

-------------

Malon stepped beyond the entrance of Lon Lon Ranch and walked onto Hyrule Field. Though it was still dark, the sun was beginning to rise on the horizon. It would still be a while yet, however, before the daylight truly came.

Until then, she had something to find, no matter the dangers of the field at this hour.

"Epoch!" She called, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Epoch, come home!"

She stood silent for a moment, listening for any sign. A hoof beat. A whinny. Just...anything. She didn't understand. Epoch was usually home by now. Yet, if it was any other horse she was consider now, she would have thought something wrong might've happened.

He recognized this terrain, Dark Link realized. If he was correct, he was near to Lon Lon Ranch. He head heard a strange sound coming from this direction as well. At first he had been hearing a song. The song had ceased only a few moments ago, but it had left him with a peculiar feeling inside of familiarity. And, strangely enough, something else had coursed over him.

Perhaps it was one of Link's memories slipping through. Whatever it might be, it did leave a sense of calmness in him. Like a blanket had been lain over his thoughts. He never thought that he would have felt peace before, but it was surely nothing less than peace he felt then.

"Epoch." A voice. Sounded like a woman. "Epoch, where are you?"

Dark Link pulled the stallion to a halt. The voice had sounded like Malon's. He listened. She had started speaking again. Calling for someone, perhaps? It was a possibility.

"It's almost daylight. Epoch?" Malon called again.

This brought Dark Link's attention to the horizon. Indeed the sun was coming up, and none too slow. The top half of the great yellow daystar was slowly peeking up over the tall mountain crest of Death Mountain. Lon Lon Ranch was the closest place to him that he could go to hide from the sun. However, he had to wait till Malon disappeared before he could enter. He might've found it humorous that the daylight always seemed to bring him here.

It was nearly five minutes before he made it into the stable, and the sun's rays hit his hand as he opened the door, burning it.

Burned?

-------------

It was nearly midday. Dark Link sat against a hay bale, holding his burned hand in his other hand. Scarred. A thin, red line nearly three inches long had been made on he back of his hand. The sunlight had hit him there. It had seared him. Almost like he had...flesh?

No! No flesh! He was a shadow! Link's shadow! Thought he too no pride in being that particular Hylian's other self, it still meant he was not living. It burned, but did not bleed, and living things bleed. He clenched his hurt hand into a fist, placing it at his side. He denied it. He denied the pain that he felt when it the sunlight had touched him.

The door of the stable creaked its warning that someone was about to enter. Dark Link leapt to his feet and eased back into the shadows of the corner, blending in there perfectly with stealthy ease. Save for his eyes, which he could not dim the glow. Into the stable strode Malon, a bucket of oats in her hands. She stopped when she came upon sight of the stalls.

"Epoch! I was sure you found your way out again today." Malon giggled as she walked over tot he stall, holding the oat bucket up for the black stallion to eat from. "I know you hopped the fence, so how did you end up here?"

The stallion rose his muzzle up out of the bucket and snorted, tossing his mane as he shook his head. Malon smiled at the horse's reply. Even if he had the ability to speak, she knew he wouldn't tell her a thing.

"I suppose it doesn't matter now. You're back." She sighed. "Plus you're in a stall. I've been trying for years to get you in one and you haven't let me. Hmm. What made you want to try now?"

When Malon left, Dark Link came out of hiding. He looked at the stallion, who had no other thoughts but of the oats in the feed trough. Epoch, was it? The black horse now had a name.

-------------

Once again, as he knew it would, night came. Sometimes he thought the darkness would never come. It was tiring his patience waiting for it. Leading the black horse by the bridle, he moved out of the stable. Once outside, he started to mount Epoch, but something caught his attention. A song. That song from before. It was nearer than ever. Epoch seemed interested by it as well. Had that song originated from this ranch?

The stallion pulled the reins from Dark Link's hand and took off galloping toward the pasture. Dark Link knew he wouldn't have bothered to follow if it wasn't fore the pulling force the strange song had on him. So peaceful...

Malon, her hands clasped together and her eyes closed as she listened to the notes, continued humming the song her mother had taught her when she was a little girl. It always made her feel better when she hummed this song. The sound of hoof beats and a soft whicker made her open her eyes. Epoch stood in front of her. She smiled, reaching out and stroking his silken coat.

"I knew you'd find a way out of that stall. You couldn't be kept in there forever, could you?" She giggled as the horse butted his head lightly against her shoulder. She peered past Epoch through the darkness toward the house. Some movement there had caught her eye. Then she saw something. She knew what, or perhaps who, it was. A gasp escaped her.

Dark Link had been standing at the entrance of the horse corral, listening to the song that the woman had been singing. So Malon had been the source of the song that had emanated peace throughout him. He hadn't felt it ever before, but he did know that he wanted to feel that way again. It was addictive. An addiction that he knew of no cure. When he heard that song, all thoughts of death, destruction, and even the urge to kill Link all disappeared in what felt like a wispy cloud.

He walked forward toward her and the horse, his old thoughts once again returning against his will. "That song..."

Malon tried not to flinch under the intense gaze. He sounded like Link, only with a slightly deeper voice, yet his voice seemed to hold more curiosity now than she had expected. "The song...?"

"Where did you learn that song? It holds a mysterious power." He said in reply.

"M-my mother t-taught it t-to me." She stammered. He was close now, having stopped and standing only four feet away.

He was as tall as Link, though is presence was far more terrifying just looking at him as she was. Strange. Epoch wasn't afraid. "I sing when I'm s-sad or l-lonely."

Dark Link thought for a moment then almost commanded, "I want you to sing that song again."

Malon wasn't sure what to say at his statement. "N-now?"

He nodded his reply. Though his presence was still terrifying to her, something about him now, the way he stood perhaps, told her that he wasn't going to hurt her. Not this night. Malon gathered her wits about her the best that she could under the circumstances, clasping her hands together, and began to sing again. She closed her eyes as she felt the notes flow through her, concentrating solely on the notes. If she saw or thought of anything else, such as the dark figure in front of her, she was unsure that she could continue. After about a minute, she dared open her eyes.

She was amazed by what she saw, though that did not stop her singing.

Dark Link had relaxed visibly, the way he stood definitely not as tense as it had been before. He seemed to listen to her song with keen interest, and it was as if the song had some sort of effect on him that was for the better. The terrifying glow that was his eyes had dulled down just to the point to where there was a calmness about them. About him all over. Everywhere.

Yet, soon, Malon regretted, it got late, and she had to end. She needed her sleep for the next day. Chickens to feed, horses to take care of, cows to milk... The farm life wasn't easy considering all that she had to go through. Her father helped, of course, though she had the duties of taking care of the animals.

"I have to go. It's getting late, and I need to sleep." She said, holding her arms around her, hoping that Dark Link wouldn't do something to forbid her from leaving. He didn't make a sound, so she walked on past him toward the exit of the corral.

"Come back tomorrow night." Dark Link suddenly said, causing her to stop. She turned around and looked at him, listening. "Sing your song tomorrow night for me."

"I..." She found herself almost smiling despite herself. "I come here every night to sing. You can come and listen if you want."

She saw him nod once before she turned around and walked to the farm house. Funny how he didn't seem as evil as the stories Link had told about him. Link had told about this shadow creature that both looked like him yet fought almost better than him, feeding off of his fear as if it was some sort of feast, fighting with the styles of a demon incarnate.

Dark Link stayed where he stood, turning his eyes upward to gaze at the stars. He hadn't found a purpose, nor had he found whatever destiny comes to those which are created, but he had found something that calmed him far better than the soothing waters of the Water Temple had. He looked toward the farm house, watching Malon disappear through the door. He had to wait until tomorrow night.

The next day, Malon was not surprised when she found Dark Link standing in one of the darkest corners inside the stable. He only watched her, not speaking nor reacting in any way to the presence of anything or anyone. She tried not to let herself be bothered by his own presence, going about her chores and duties as anyone else would expect her to do, yet he was there, and that did bother her to some degree.

However, when night came and she ventured out into the corral to sing as she did every night, she spied Dark Link over next to the outside wall of the stable. All she could see of him were his eyes, which were glowing red and couldn't blend in with the darkness around him like the rest of him could. He just stood and listened throughout the entire night she was out there, and when she left to go to sleep, he left as well to go do whatever it was that he did at that time of night.

There was no telling, she knew. She wasn't going to bother and ask.

-------------

Over the next few days and nights, it was the same routine, and Malon had grown accustomed to the presence of Dark Link in the stable during the day. He never ventured out from the corner of the room, always staying out of the way of everything, yet always watching no matter what she did. At night, he was always standing or sitting near the back outside wall of the stable, listening keenly with interest to the song that she sang every night.

He hadn't said a single word to her since that one night, and he preferred it that way. He was content with his silence, and since she spoke no to him, he did not speak to her in any way. No contact was really necessary. That is, until one day...

Malon was stroking one of the buckskin horses under her care, feeding it the daily grain, when she noticed something strange about Dark Link that she had not noticed before. His hand bore a long, red scar. Normally she was good about noticing such things. She prided herself on her gift of observation, but this time she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. She knew it wasn't her place to ask questions, but she found herself asking about it, anyway.

"The scar on your hand. It wasn't there before." She said, then asked, "What happened?"

Dark Link hadn't expected her to speak to him. He answered, however, in his own terms. "I was careless."

"Oh." She nodded once slowly, turning her attention on the horse she was feeding. She rubbed the horse's forehead gently, playing with the long, black bangs with her fingers, then straightened out the bangs once more so they would be out of the horse's eyes. "Why do you come to listen to me every night?"

He frowned, narrowing his eyes at her. "Why do you insist on conversation?"

She herself didn't understand or know, and an answer wasn't on her mind at the time. She tried to think of one, yet nothing came to her. "I don't really know very well." She admitted truthfully, then added, "I suppose I want to get to understand you better."

"Understand?" Dark Link repeated. "There is nothing to understand."

"There is a lot to understand from my point of view." She replied to him, moving away from the horse and looking his way. "I know you're Link's shadow, but I see that you are nothing like Link. Except for your appearance, that is."

Now it was he that didn't quite understand her words. "What are you talking about?"

"You're different. You have a different mind. Probably more unique than Link's. I can judge what Link will answer to any question before anyone even asks him! He's too predicable. You're not predictable at all. I'd like to get to know you."

It was silent for a few seconds, then his reply, "I'm not interested."

Malon sighed. Her attempt at communication with him had failed. Perhaps she could try again sometime, but she knew that it, too, wouldn't go over so well. She took the feed bucket from the horse's stall and walked toward the door. As she opened the door to step out, she stopped, looking back at the corner where she knew Dark Link stood.

"I understand." She said. "But I also understand that you are lonely."


	4. Chapter IV

Chapter IV

The next day, Dark Link was surprised at himself. He found himself actually thinking about Malon's proposal from the day before. Maybe it was part of Link inside him that compelled him to go forward. Maybe it was, or maybe it wasn't. Whatever it may be, he didn't care. There was the part of him that didn't enjoy the company of others too greatly. It was biting at him, though. The urge, that is. Not the urge to destroy Link, but the urge to understand this Malon character more than he did. He delved into the thoughts and memories that Link had about Malon and all that were associated with her. He had felt them before, so he knew where to find them again.

And he was surprised by what he found!

There were memories of laughter and joy there, of two children running and playing with the horses and chickens. There was the sense of embarrassment that came with the name of Fairy Boy that Dark Link discovered. He smiled, knowing that this must be Malon's nickname for Link. There was the same humorous feeling that came with the name Talon, and Dark Link felt that this Talon was a father to Malon. Had to be. He looked deeper into the feelings than the memories. He found he could understand much more from what Link had felt than of his memories. The memories were usually only flashes of an instant, anyway.

In a sudden block of will, Dark Link pulled himself out of the feelings and brought himself back to his own reality. He replaced the wall around his mind that he had been learning to form between his own thoughts and Link's for the past few days. He was sure that he had just felt...lust? Couldn't be any less. He understood to some extent. Link was a Hylian, after all. A man. It was only natural that he would feel the love and lust for Malon when he saw her as a grown woman.

It was then that he heard the door creak open. Looking, he noticed as Malon walked slowly into the stable. In her hands, as per usual, were two buckets of oats. One bucket contained the oats for the two horses that were usually inside the stable, while the other contained a special blend of oats and herbs meant for the cow that seemed to always inhabit one of the stable's stalls. Dark Link watched as she lifted up the special bucket to the cow, holding it there as the cow started to eat. She seemed to watch the cow's eyelashes move up and down as the cow started on her food.

Dark Link didn't understand why he did it, but at he moment he didn't care to debate the why of it. This day, Epoch was the only other beast inside the stable besides the cow. The other horses had been let out to enjoy the sunny day in the pasture. However, Epoch had refused to leave. Dark Link walked over to where Malon had set down the bucket of oats, picked it up, and walked over to the stall where Epoch awaited. He held the bucket up for Epoch to eat out of. The black stallion had no qualms about who held the bucket. The oats were there, and he was to eat. All was fine with him.

Malon watched as Dark Link fed Epoch the grain. Strange it was watching the shadow feeding the black horse, yet it looked so right as it was. Though why Dark Link chose now to choose movement over standing in the corner as he always did confused her. As she held the bucket for the cow, her gaze was on Dark Link and Epoch. Then she noticed something.

"How is it that you can hold that bucket?" She asked, truly wondering the answer. "I've seen you pass through things, and normal objects that can hurt us don't hurt you at all. Yet you can pick up that bucket. You are a shadow, aren't you?"

Dark Link looked at her and nodded. "I am a shadow. I can touch or be touched by physical matter if I want."

The bucket, now empty due to the hungry Epoch, was held out. Dark Link released his concentration to prove his point. The bucket fell through his hand as easily as if there had been nothing but air there in the first place. The bucket clattered to the ground noisily.

Malon didn't know why she asked the question in the first place. "What do you feel like?"

He looked at her strangely. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry." She giggled. "I asked that wrong. I meant, if I touch you, what will I feel? If I reached out with my hand, would it pass right through you?" He nodded affirmatively. Malon then asked, "Can I try?"

Dark Link was taken aback by this. He didn't expect her to ask that. He hadn't expected her to ask that in a hundred years if she or he lived that long. Yet, he did not answer. Nor did he move, so when Malon stepped up to him, he made no movement nor a sound. When she reached out to touch his arm, her hand passed right through his shadowy form. He felt nothing when she did so. Nothing...

Malon, however, felt much. Her hand tingled and felt strangely warm all over. Not warm as in the warmth of a freshly laid egg, but a small warmth that felt almost like water when the sun barely touches the surface. Still, she felt also nothing but air, as if he wasn't there at all. Only the warm and the tingling sensation told otherwise. She removed her hand and held it up, looking at it in curiosity.

"You were warm." She said, smiling slightly. She looked up at him, suddenly realizing their proximity to one another. "I'm sorry. I suppose I thought that you might be cold."

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm cold by nature."

She nodded. "Yes, I know, yet you are warm by touch."

"I felt nothing."

-------------

That night after darkness found her in her bed, Malon dreamt. Perhaps she had not meant to dream. She didn't have much to dream about. Still, she dreamed, and she remembered her dream well.

At first there was complete darkness. Malon didn't understand it at first. Usually her dreams were filled with color and wondering feelings that encompassed all. Yet now...nothingness. A shadowy world. Suddenly, the light seemed to turn on. She found herself standing in the middle of a field under the light of the stars and a brilliant full moon. In the distance, illuminated by the moonlight, was a figure. It was tall. Taller than her, at least. At first she thought she recognized it. The same figure, the same shape... In any other instant she would have thought that it could be none other than Link...

As she approached the figure, her realization changed. Standing before her was none other than Dark Link himself! Strange, though. She felt no intimidation from him like she usually did. Though his eyes glowed as brightly and as ferociously as they had before, and his figure was as imposing as Ganondorf himself, she felt no fear. Then, almost timidly, she felt a softness against her lips. A brush of wonder against her that she had never felt before. After a moment, she realized that she had closed her eyes in the dream, and when she opened them she discovered...

Malon sat up in her bed with a sudden start, her right hand flying upward to touch her lips. She felt as if she was trembling all over. She knew she must be! After a dream like that, who wouldn't? She didn't even know why she had dreamed something like that! She could remember past dreams that she had about Link that were far from decent, yet to dream something like that about Dark Link...

Dark Link had kissed her. She could feel his own lips against hers. She had felt something against the front of her body. Like a burst of air and water all combined into one had rushed over her. A single passing moment of amazement and wonderment. A thousand thoughts all at once surely had poured over her. It couldn't be described as anything less!

But why...?

Why such a dream about Dark Link...?

-------------

Dark Link opened his eyes slowly, his dream fading in his mind like a soft current of wind passing through. Never before had he experienced a dream. He knew what it was on the moment. A dream. Yet what a dream! Why this particular dream had chosen to reveal itself to him was a mystery that he wasn't sure he wanted to be revealed! In his dream, Malon had walked up to him. There was no fear in her eyes. Only a strange wonderment that was almost like she couldn't understand his being there. Then, there was the brief instant when he felt as if something overcame him altogether.

He had felt it when his lips had brushed up against hers, and he had felt it in double when he had wrapped his arms around her to pull her body against his own. Sensations that he hadn't expected ever before to surface erupted like a dormant volcano once again gone active. The sensations slowly died, however, as the dream ended. It just faded from his mind as if it hadn't been there at all.

Yet he knew. Dark Link knew that it was there, and it had been there. Why, he knew it was of his concern, yet he didn't care to understand it just now. Not yet.


	5. Chapter V

Chapter V

The next day, as he stood in the corner and watched her as he always did, Dark Link noticed a strange habit that Malon seemed to have formed. Her eyes would move to watch him suspiciously every now and then. Far more than they had in the past. First her gaze would switch to suspicious and bewilderment, then to wonder and curiosity. He didn't understand what it meant, but he did wonder why she was acting so strange.

He knew he watched her quite frequently enough, yet her watching him all the same was a strange chance of motion. On any normal day he knew he would confront her about it, or perhaps he wouldn't, just standing and watching to see things turn out as they would. This day was no different than a normal day for him. He would confront her about it.

Yet as he tried to take a step foward he found his feet planted still where they were. Neither force or magic held him in his place. It might as well be magic, however, by the way he was feeling. Just the sheer sensation 0f feeling was different...

What did he feel, anyway? He wanted to find out.

------------- ------------- -------------

That night after Malon had finished her chores and her singing, she went to bed, like always. Dark Link, however, did not return to the stable or roam the Hyrule Plains like he always did. Instead, he used his shadow powers to seep through the dark cracks of the door, moving into the farm house. The first things he noticed were cuccos. They seemed to be all over the place, save for three. Those three cuccos were very content relaxing and sleeping on a man who was sleeping up against something. Talon, he guessed, Malon's father. Dark Link looked to his right where some stairs were that led upward to a door. The second floor. If Malon was not downstairs, then...?

He began to walk up the stairs. So far he had heard not a sound come from the room beyond the door. She should be asleep by this time. It had been nearly an hour since she had entered in the house. Lightly, he touched his hand to the door knob. He knew full well that he did not have to use door knobs. Just a single dark crack would work for him to slip through. And yet, if Malon was to awake and find the door open, then she would not think of him as the one who had entered in her room. The theory worked good for Malon, and better for him.

With a turn, the doorknob clicked, and the door opened. Revealed to him was a room modestly decorated. Simple shelves in one corner with a few books and pots with flowers in them on one wall. A desk and a table opposite. A small dresser near one wall as well, and a small trunk that served probably as some storage area near the foot of the bed. The bed itself was of a good size, though not overly big. Just enough for one or two people, depending on how big the people were. Lying in the middle of the bed, sleeping on her side, was Malon. Dark Link stepped up to the bed and kneeled down by it, looking into her face. She didn't have the worried look she usually did when she was awake. She looked...

...so peaceful...

Her eyelids quivered slightly and he froze. Was she dreaming? She must be. She hadn't made a move to awaken. Strange. Looking upon her face like this made him feel...he didn't know how it made him feel, to tell the truth. He knew that when he had searched Link's feelings before that Link had felt more for this girl than just friendship. Perhaps Link's feelings had influenced him somehow, or he was only feeling the aftereffects of those particular feelings of Link's that had slipped through.

Either way...

...he didn't know why he did it...

He reached down and touched his lips lightly to hers, kissing her softly. Just a brief touch. When Dark Link realized what he had done, he pulled away and fell back, unsure of what he had just done. With no resolve, he stood up and bolted out the still open door, not looking back as he ran downstairs and dove through the cracks of the door below. Once outside, he ran to Epoch, mounting the great stallion, and urged him into a fast gallop as he exited Lon Lon ranch as fast as he could manage.

He never saw the smile that had crossed Malon's lips, nor did he know the still tingling sensation that Malon had felt against her soft skin.

------------- ------------- -------------

The next day, Malon awoke with a smile still on her lips. Never before had she had such a pleasant dream as the one she had just last night. She had dreamt of a tall, dark haired man with pale skin and beautiful red eyes. He was dressed strangely, dressed in the way a Hylian wouldn't usually dress. There was a scabbard, a strangely familiar sword within, across his back, and he wore what appeared to be a black, loose cloth shirt tucked into a pair of black pants. He wore black boots as well, she remembered. She seemed to remember everything about him. His face was a lot like Link's, she recognized, yet he had finer, more determined features. During the entire dream he had stayed just out of reach of her, yet the dream was still pleasant.

Malon giggled as she got out of bed. Her dad had said that she would end up dreaming about someone other than Link. He was right. Whoever this new stranger was she was definitely glad for the change. She did have somewhat of a crush on Link still, but she knew that he was far out of her reach. Link, though he did come to visit friends and Zelda, who was family, and sometimes came to the ranch to see how she and Talon were doing, he was still a lone wolf, never able to settle down for any length of time.

After getting ready and finished the morning duties around the house, she did as she always did and started out to the stable to let the horses out to run in the pasture. The sun was just above the horizon, so it was still early. She smiled. She never arose this early before. Going back to bed was an option to her if she wanted it, but she found herself wanting to see Dark Link. Why, she didn't know, and she questioned it plenty. Of course, no answer dared rear its head. As usual, she was left clueless.

She opened the door slowly as she always did before entering. If Dark Link was near the door, she wanted him to have time to get out of the way before the sunlight filtered in. She shut the door behind her. Suddenly, something didn't feel right. The atmosphere of the stable felt different somehow. She looked at the horses and cow. They weren't acting up or strangely in any way. All was ok there. She looked toward the corners where Dark Link usually stood. He wasn't there...

She looked back toward the horses. Epoch wasn't there either...

She knew then. Dark Link must've taken Epoch out last night. Where he had gone to was as much of a mystery to her as to why he had gone. She did remember Link telling her the story about Dark Link. Dark Link's only purpose was to kill Link. If that was the case, probably he had gone to fulfill his purpose. It was only right. Purposes were meant to be fulfilled, even if they weren't on the side of good.

She did have to go to Hyrule Market today. Maybe she would see Link there and would be able to find Dark Link. Though she wasn't sure if the right thing was to tell Link about his other half. Maybe Link already knew. Or, if he didn't know, perhaps Dark Link didn't want him to know. She sighed. She felt as if she didn't know what the right thing was anymore. She only hoped that Dark Link wouldn't try to kill Link again like he had tried in the past.


	6. Chapter VI

Chapter VI

Dark Link stayed just within the shadows of the alleys of the marketplace. He had watched as many went about their daily doings, and he watched as people went in and out of the castle. As usual, he didn't dare come out into the light. Not since that one day the sun had burned him. If the sun hit him fully... He hated to think of what might happen if that was to happen to him. So in the shadows he stayed. And from the shadows was where he watched as Malon entered into the town. Just at the sight of her he had felt something strange pull upward inside of him, and it was that pulling that he wanted to be rid of forever. He wasn't flesh and blood; hence he should not be concerned with such things.

Yet concerned he was, and he was right in the middle of it. Emotions, feelings, and such things like that. He had them all. He wasn't even Hylian. It was all caused by Malon. That he did not understand. He found himself wanting to just fulfill his purpose and kill Link rather than to try and understand these sensations he was going through. When night came and Malon left, he was glad for it. When she left he didn't feel those things anymore.

Hyrule market had been rebuilt just as it had looked before. Not a single piece of Ganondorf's rule remained. Even the evil tower that he had created from the castle had been turned into a much better version of Hyrule Castle. From Dark Link's perspective, he wondered how they had covered up the moat of lava, but he didn't put anything past the power of the Sages. They had all placed together their powers to help rebuild their own individual kingdoms.

Even when darkness came, Dark Link still sat in the alley, watching the dogs wander across the streets. A couple of times a few dogs had tried to come up to him, thinking him someone that might offer a pet on the head or a scrap of food, only to run away yelping. As he sat there, his thoughts didn't leave him alone to his peace. He had to return sometime to the ranch. Without Malon's song, he didn't feel as if he had peace anywhere inside of him. When she sang, he felt as if nothing could go wrong. Strange. He needed that now. He felt that somehow everything had gone wrong.

He stepped out into the street, causing all the dogs to scatter in a yelping mess. Lights started to turn on in the buildings nearby, but Dark Link paid them no attention. He walked out of the castle and moved through the darkness until he was on the Hyrule Field. Epoch was waiting outside for him, he noticed. How the stallion had known that he would leave at this time he didn't quite figure out. Still, whatever the reason, he mounted the great horse, positioning himself comfortably.

"Home, Epoch." He said to the horse. The horse understood, and Dark Link didn't have to bother with the reins. He let them lie limp on the horse's neck.

The night had only an hour left to it when Epoch finally brought them through the ranch gates. Dark Link dismounted and began to walk toward the stable. He didn't even hear it when the figure came up behind him.

"Welcome back." Malon greeted. He turned around and looked at her. "I thought you'd be back."

"Who said I'm back?" He asked, looking at her.

"I hadn't thought that you would try to fool me." She smiled softly. "Of course you're back! Even if you did leave you wouldn't have left for long."

"I can leave for however long I like." He said, moving to open the door. "Remember who I am."

He stalled when her hand came down on the doorknob as well. His hand was on the doorknob, and though her hand went straight through his and touched the knob, it was the sheer act of it that caught him off guard. He looked at her hand for a moment, then met her gaze with his own.

"I do remember you who are." She said. "And I know that you don't need to be alone. I don't care if you were Ganondorf's creation or not. Link told me that you have some of the Water Temple's magic in you, and the Water Temple is far from evil."

He narrowed his eyes. "When did you -"

"I spoke to Link today while I was in the marketplace." She answered him before he finished. "I also knew that you were there. I saw you. I just didn't talk to you."

He watched as she removed her hand and turned to walk back into the house, leaving him outside alone. When she had disappeared back into the house, he looked down at his hand. For a moment he looked at it closely before clutching the doorknob and turning it. He was sure that, for a moment, he had felt something. A tingling sensation when she had lain her hand on the doorknob through his. Before when they had touched he hadn't felt it any at all. Now, this time, he did.

Malon looked at her hand as she stood in the middle of her bedroom. With her other hand, she rubbed it lightly. Touching him this time had felt different than it had last time. There was a feeling there that she hadn't expected. That she hadn't really known about. She walked to her window and looked out it, looking upon the entrance into the stable. Any other day and she might've slapped herself for thinking things such as these. She wanted to touch him again, even if this time she hadn't actually touched him...

------------- ------------- -------------

The next day, Dark Link found himself disappointed that it wasn't Malon who came in to let out the horses and to feed the cow. Talon was the one who did this chore today. He found himself hiding in a darkened down corner so that the man wouldn't find him. Talon still didn't know that Dark Link was living in his stable yet, and Dark Link knew that it was best if things were kept that way. So he hid while Talon went about his work. Malon didn't come in any at all the entire day. Although he was far from wanting to admit such things, he was slightly depressed by her absence.

The procession of time went by until it was finally nightfall, and Malon had yet to enter. Dark Link ventured out toward the pasture, listening for any sign that Malon might be there. No sound. No singing. No footsteps. He walked out into the pasture, listening still, sensing the air for anything that might be around. Yet again nothing. Something was on the ground in the middle of the pasture, though, where Malon used to stand. A note. Dark Link picked it up and proceeded to read it:

Dark Link,

Come to the stable. I need to ask you something.

Malon

Dark Link looked at the note for a moment, then back at the stable. Hadn't he just left the stable not five minutes ago? She had left the note and then waited for him to come out of the stable just so she could go in. Now he was really wondering what her reasoning behind that was. Or, what was her question that she needed to ask.

He walked back into the stable, his vision easily piercing the darkness. Standing near the corner where he always stood was Malon, looking his direction. A lantern was by her side. Other than the light of the lantern, the stable was completely dark. He walked over and stopped four feet from where she stood, a neutral appearance over him. He was waiting for her to speak first, and she could see it.

"My question for you is..." She started, then tried to get out the words. She looked over at the glowing lantern. "...well..."

She found that the words weren't coming out as easily as she had rehearsed them back in her room earlier that night. She looked back up at him. Neither he or his expression had changed or moved. He was still staring at her.

"I was wondering if..." She started again, hoping that it would come out better this time. "...if you could care."

This time his expression did change, and if she could tell that it changed she would see that it was one of confusion. "What do you mean...care?"

"I don't think this is coming out right." She moved her gaze back to the light. "I might as well say it. I think I care about you. In more ways that I really should."

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm not someone to care about. So far only pain has come from my actions. You do know this, do you not?"

"I know." She nodded. "I just had to get it off my chest. I'm not sure if it's made me feel better, though. I guess I hoped it would somehow. I don't know what I expected it to change. I really don't. To tell you the truth, I don't understand anything anymore. I'm way to far over my head."

She took the lantern and walked out the stable door. Dark Link could only watch as she went. He didn't understand why he had said what he had, but it had been nonetheless the truth. Nothing else. The door to the stable shut quietly for once. There it was again. That feeling inside of him. He clenched his fist. Whatever it was felt like a large ball made out of mist that was forming in the very middle of his being. Not visibly, of course, but something was there. He could feel it, and he knew it did exist.

Malon continued up to her room, the light of the lantern lighting her way. It was dark downstairs. Her dad was already asleep, as per usual, and the 'super cuccos' that he had trained were all resting as well. Her light footsteps hadn't awakened them. She knew she could stomp through the house and she probably wouldn't wake up those four heavy sleepers. It took nearly all three cuccos in the morning just to wake up her dad alone. She pulled open her door and set the lamp inside the room, reaching her hand to turn the flame up so that there would be more light inside the room.

It was then that a hand was placed lightly over hers and kept it from turning up the light. The hand felt as solid as hers did, though there was a familiar warmth to the touch. It was dark, so she couldn't see very well, but she didn't need to see to know what the next feeling was that crossed her. And she knew who it was that delivered the unexpected moment and touch. She closed her eyes when she felt Dark Link's lips capture her own. It was a gentle kiss, not too timid yet not too bold. The kiss left her warm all over, and, when it ended, she found herself wanting more. She opened her eyes and turned up the light, now able to see his body through the darkness.

"I thought you -" She started say.

Dark Link placed a finger on her lips to hush her. "Only I know what I do."

Suddenly, he vanished, fading in only a second into nothingness. Malon looked at the now empty space in front of her, reaching out into the darkness as if to clasp something that might be there. Would hopefully be there. Her hand touched nothing, just air slipping through her fingers.

Maybe it had only been some dream or some type of trick her mind was playing on her. She touched her lips lightly. It felt too real to be a dream or a trick. Too real...

Outside, Dark Link sat on the top of the iron and wood fence that surrounded the horse corral. He did not have to balance, easily staying where he was. With one hand, he reached up to his mouth, touching his lips, then taking his hand away and gazing at his fingers, almost as if he expected there to be something from his lips on them. Maybe he did expect something to be there. He didn't fully understand the reason for kissing her. His reason. He didn't even know if he had a reason. What Malon had told him in the stable had set something loose inside of him that had pulled stiffly at him. He tried to not give into it, yet it had been strong enough to overcome him.

He had gone up to Malon's bedroom to wait for her, and then he had done that which he himself didn't understand. He kissed her...

He blamed Link's feelings for her that had been placed inside of him. Link liked, or had liked, her more than a friend, and it was those feelings already implanted inside of him that had more than likely surged forth and caused him to react. He knew Link's feelings and memories when they surfaced. What he had felt when he had kissed her though... What he had felt when she had spoken to him and told him all those things... Those had not been Link's feelings that had caused him to feel that. He had felt his own.

He blamed it then on Link's feelings causing his own feelings to form. He wasn't even supposed to have feelings, yet he did. It was too complex.

Dark Link realized something. He was blaming everything on Link like a coward. A coward he was not, and he could face his own problems. Though it still didn't register to him how he was feeling these things in the first place. He needed answers now, and answers weren't the things that were in great supply. Not the answers he needed. No person could truly know the answers he needed. Not in this world.

Not in this...world...?

It came to him! Of course, not in this world! The Temple of Time was the doorway to the Sacred Realm, the realm where the first Sage, Rauru, housed himself. Rauru was the Sage of Light, the one whose power was second only to Zelda's. He could not speak to Zelda. Not Zelda. However, Rauru would be one to not hold grudges, and he understood all the temples, not just his own. He would surely have the answers that he would need.

But, the final key to the Door of Time was not in place. The Ocarina of Time. He would have to gather all three Spiritual Stones, and the Ocarina of Time itself.


	7. Chapter VII

Chapter VII

In the morning, Malon wanted to see Dark Link more than anything. She had only known him for a short amount of time, yet however short that time was, she knew something was forming between her and him. At least, she knew that it was forming inside of her. She stepped into the stable with a lively gait, a smile on her face. She shut the door behind her and looked around the stable. Epoch was gone, but that was far from a surprise. That black stallion rarely stayed inside the stable, anyway. The cow was still there, however. She moved over to the cow and poured the feed inside its feeding trough.

Her gaze shifted over to the corner where Dark Link usually stayed. He was absent from the corner, however. She set the feed bucket down and looked around in search. Nothing... He wasn't there...

Outside, horses were neighing. She set down the feed bucket and walked outside, watching as Talon was loading milk crates onto the back of a wagon cart to carry into town. Yet another delivery. The deliveries were made at least once a week, especially considering that everybody seemed to love Lon Lon milk more than any other milk out there. Maybe it was how they treated the cows. That could be it.

"Delivery day, Malon." Talon said, sitting down on the wagon seat and taking the reins up in hand. "Wanna come along?"

Malon smiled and nodded, sliding up into the seat beside her father. She loved it when she was able to go to Hyrule Market. There were so many things to do there. Especially keep an eye out for a certain somebody...

------------- ------------- -------------

Dark Link placed each individual Spiritual Stone on its proper place on the large stone pedestal. The Spiritual Stone of Fire, also known as the Goron's Ruby; The Spiritual Stone of Water, also known as Zora's Sapphire; and the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, also known as the Forest Emerald. Each one looked just as lifeless and powerless as any other gem would, albeit they were quite a bit more polished than any other gem would be. It was easy obtaining them from Kokiri Forest, Death Mountain, and Zora's Domain. The inhabitants in all three places didn't even notice him. To his advantage, no doubt.

Then there was the Ocarina of Time. If it had been specially guarded by Zelda herself he might have had a relatively hard time obtaining it. However, the musical relic was being guarded in a vault by three Hylian guards. The vault was easy to get into, and slipping past the guards had been like a walk in the park at night.

Yet the most easily gained of all the keys was the one that was already implanted inside himself. The Song of Time. Link had known it long before he had come to the Water Temple, and Dark Link had gained the knowledge of it, as were all the songs that he had learned before he had come to the Water Temple to fight. Holding the ocarina up to his lips, he began to play. The song seemed to course through the very walls of the Temple of Time, moving in and out of the Spiritual Stones and lifting them upward. The stones levitated in place, held up by their own power. The large stone Door of Time slid open, revealing the room beyond.

It seemed almost too simple to be true.

The Master Sword was still in the Pedestal of Time, the top of the blade sunk into the stone itself. The blade shone brilliantly in the light that seeped through the windows high above on the walls near the ceiling. Dark Link did not dare touch the light. He walked around them, moving toward the Pedestal of Time and reached out his hand toward the hilt of the mighty sword. This was the key, he knew. The final key to entering the Sacred Realm, and possibly getting into the Spirit Temple. There he would find Rauru, and he would...

Jerking back his hand, he watched as the sword seemed to glow for the moment before dying back down to its original state. His hand was in pain, even if he could not see anything visibly wrong with it! Frowning, he looked at his hand. If he wasn't even able to touch the sword, then how was he able to pull it out? This was probably the reason that Ganondorf hadn't thought to pull the sword on his own, and it wasn't because he wasn't able to gather the Spiritual Stones himself. Ganondorf could have taken the Spiritual Stones as easily as he would have wanted. Maybe he knew that he couldn't have touched the sword.

Dark Link looked up at the Master Sword, an idea forming. He couldn't touch the Master Sword, but there was a blade that he could handle with ease. The Master Sword's direct opposite, just as he was the opposite of the Hero of Time.

Drawing the Dark Master Sword from the scabbard on his back, he pressed the shadow against the sword. The Dark Master Sword wasn't repelled. In fact, it seemed to be engulfed by its other half, and the two swords merged into one, a shadowy glow and a strange shimmer appearing over the Master Sword. Reaching out, Dark Link dared to touch it once again. This time, he was able to close his hand around the hilt firmly, no pain this time.

Suddenly, the light streaming down from the windows shifted, pelting him hard and full-bodied...

------------- ------------- -------------

Malon walked through the main street of the marketplace, listening to the gossip that she could overhear, watching as the ones around her moved with the usual hustle and bustle that Hyrule Market could never seem to go without. She was glad for this. It wasn't too long ago that this place was almost entirely destroyed, a wasteland for the Redead, with an ominous castle peering over the small marketplace. Now, since Link had saved them all and the Sages had rebuilt what had been destroyed, it was back to the same old way that she remembered it all as a child.

It was as if nothing had changed. Hopefully, things wouldn't turn out the way that they had turned again. Maybe this time things would stay normal. Well, as normal as they could be, she reminded herself.

"Did you hear? I heard someone broke into the castle last night and stole the Ocarina of Time." One woman said to the other one. The two women were in a corner, gossiping. The first woman continued. "I hear that whoever it was also stole the three Spiritual Stones."

Malon stood by, her ears perked and her eyes open with interest at this conversation. Though she hated to admit it to herself, she thought that she knew who had most likely done it. Not many would have the amount of skill to pull such a feat.

"What do you think they want with them?" The second woman asked the first. "It's not like they can use them. Only the Sages or the Hero of Time can use the Master Sword."

The other woman shrugged. "I don't know. Only a Sage or the Hero of Time can even touch the Master Sword."

Malon turned and ran toward the Temple of Time...

Inside the Temple of Time, Link stood by the stone pedestal that held the three Spiritual Stones. They glowed still, floating above their respectful places, a pleasant hum eminating from the three of them. Hearing footsteps coming up behind him, he turned. Malon looked up at the high walls of the Temple of Time, barely noticing that Link was watching her. She felt so small and insignificant when she was in a place like this of such great magnitude. She was sure that if she listened carefully enough she could hear music coming from the very walls themselves.

"Malon." Link said, getting her attention. "What are you doing here?"

Malon looked up at him, then at the floating Spiritual Stones. "I think I know who it was."

Link looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "Dark Link. I know. I told him if he ever caused trouble that I would come after him."

"You mean," Malon looked away from the stones at the floor. "kill him?"

Link nodded. "If it comes to that."

Malon looked up and through to the room beyond the Door of Time. Her eyes grew wide. "The Master Sword's gone!"

"He took it."

"How could he even touch it?" She asked.

"I don't know." Link shrugged. "If he was the one that drew the Master Sword, then he is in the Sacred Realm. He has to come back some time. The Sages won't allow him to stay in the Sacred Realm for long."

"Link," Malon touched Link lightly on the arm, causing him to look down at her with

curiosity. "He's not as evil as you think he is."

Link gained realization at that instant. When he had spoken to Malon just a couple of days earlier he had learned why he hadn't been able to find Dark Link at the Water Temple any longer. Dark Link had been staying the entire time in the stable at Lon Lon Ranch. At first he wasn't so sure about such a thing, but Dark Link hadn't caused any harm to come to Malon or Talon. As long as no trouble was caused, then there was no reason for him to fight.

He understood something at that moment, but having it settle with him properly wasn't something that he knew would happen any time soon.

"You like him, don't you?"

Malon's eyes went wide as her gaze hit his like a stone. "What?"

He frowned, then repeated. "You like him. It's obvious."

"I..." She tried to find words, but they wouldn't come, so she didn't attempt any.

Link, however, had words, even if he wasn't sure about the taste of them. "If there is another way, then I won't kill him. I give you my word on that."

"Thank you, Link."


	8. Chapter VIII

Chapter VIII

He wasn't in any pain. That much was for certain. A bright white light engulfed his body and invaded his vision, allowing him to see nothing, but there was no pain. Before there had only been the brief instant of pain when the sunlight had moved over his body, but after that he found himself in what could only be called a vast white void. Whether the place be made of energy or some other power, he did not know. As far as he knew, maybe he was dead and this was his torture for eternity. Some torture.

Then again, maybe this was all normal.

Now he felt himself falling. Not a fast fall, but a slow and eventual one, as if someone was holding him and he was being set down lightly. His feet touched what felt like solid ground, and his vision was slowly coming back, shapes and forms appearing and taking shape all around him. There was a wave of dizziness that swept over him, pummeling his senses. It wasn't painful, but he didn't know how much more of it he could take. He fell to his knees in...water? There was water here where he was. Maybe he was dead. Maybe he was returning to the Water Temple to give back the magic that Ganondorf had stolen from it to create him.

He wouldn't be alive after that, would he?

Suddenly, the wave of dizziness was gone, and gravity felt like it was back to normal.

"Stand up, Dark Link." A gentle, yet strong voice commanded. Dark Link stood up slowly, focusing his vision on a robed man with a white beard and mustache. "You are not welcome here, servant of evil. Why have you come?"

"I have come for an answer." Dark Link said boldly. "I have to know, am I alive or am I..." His words failed him.

"Or are you dead?" Rauru finished the sentence for him. "Alive depends on the person. Somebody can be born, grow up, and live their life, yet have nothing to live for. Alive only depends on how they feel about it. With nothing to live for, are they dead?"

He narrowed his eyes. "And those who are created...?"

"Only you can say for certain."

Dark Link didn't say anything at that moment. If that was true, then was he really alive? He had always considered something living to have...feelings. To have skin, bone, flesh... To have a heart. If only...

Rauru began to speak again. "You risked much to come here. You are made of shadow, and it is well known that light can both create and kill shadows." He held out his hands in front of him, the Master Sword appearing in them. "You grasped the Master Sword, a weapon of light. During the transition to our dimension, you were engulfed by the light, yet not harmed by that. When you first came here you fell to your knees, and you would have died if not for the magic of the Water Temple inside of you. The light of the Spirit Temple cannot kill one of its own, and you carry with you one of its own."

"Was that why the Master Sword could not kill me?" Dark Link asked. "The Water Temple healed me, I know, because it felt some of itself inside of me."

Rauru nodded. "It is so."

"Then explain." He demanded. "Is it the Water Temple that makes me what I am? After the Water Temple healed me, I began to grow a mind of my own. Things that shouldn't have happened have happened. I have...feelings."

There. He finally brought himself around to admitting it. Strange. It wasn't as hard as he had always envisioned it being. Rauru's expression changed very little, though a small smile did appear on his thin lips, and a light seemed to illuminate his features.

"You have yet to tell the complete truth of why you are here, Dark Link." The Sage of Light said.

Dark Link hesitated for a few seconds, then clenched his fist, closing his eyes before opening them again. "I no longer want to be what I am. I want to be...alive."

"I cannot do that for you." Rauru said. "You are who you are."

"I am a monster!" Dark Link came close to shouting. "I know there is a way. If Ganondorf could create my shadow body, then there is a way to turn me..." He wasn't sure of his next words. "I don't want to be this anymore."

Rauru closed his eyes. There was a way, but it was a dangerous way. However, if Dark Link was to survive...

"There is a way." He said. "There is a risk, however. If you touch the Triforce, it will grant you that which you seek."

Dark Link listened. "What is the risk?"

Rauru nodded and continued. "If you touch it, you could possibly die. The Triforce holds the light of the three goddesses inside each of its three golden triangles. The power that it holds looks deep within the heart of whoever touches it."

"Since this body does not have a heart, then..." Dark Link understood. His shadowy body did not have a heart. The power would seek out his heart, yet not find anything. He looked up from the floor to the Sage of Light. "I'll take the risk."

Rauru nodded, then raised both of his hands toward the ceiling. Suddenly, in a golden flash, the Triforce was floating in front of him. Dark Link could not help but be captivated by the beauty of the three golden triangles. He mentally went through the names of each one. Courage. Wisdom. Power. He didn't know which one was which by looking at them now. They all appeared the same to him.

Rauru nodded for him to touch it. Dark Link lifted his hand, hesitating as it neared a few inches from the powerful relic. He closed his eyes. If he touched this, would he keep his memories? Would he know and understand what he does now? Opening his eyes, he thrust his hand forward, placing his palm on one of the triangles.

------------- ------------- -------------

Link jumped up from his seat on the floor as he heard a familiar humming sound fill the air. His eyes locked onto the chamber where the Pedestal of Time resided, watching intently as a blue light filtered down from the ceiling and the Master Sword slowly materialized back in its rightful place, then as another figure began to materialize next to it.

It was a tall, dark haired young man with pale skin and red eyes, dressed strangely in a loose, cloth shirt tucked into a pair of black pants. He wore black boots as well, the boots resembling the travel boots that Link himself wore. He wore on his hands and arms black versions of the brown gauntlets that Link wore as well. There was an empty scabbard on his back, black the engraving of the Triforce on the upper part of it. His face was what caught Link's attention. It was a lot like his own, though with finer, more determined features.

"Dark Link...?" Link asked as he stepped forward a few steps into the chamber, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Dark Link looked at Link for a second, then held his hands out in front of him. Flesh? He was sure that was what he was looking at. Breath? He took a deep breath, feeling it as the cool air of the temple filled his lungs. Lungs? He was alive. The Triforce... The power hadn't killed him after all! He was alive! His gaze shifted and stopped when it met Link's own. The purpose that he had before...

It wasn't there. He had no urge whatsoever to... He could say that he didn't have the urge to kill Link. Had Ganondorf's rule over him been released?

"I'm alive." A smile crossed his lips.

"How...?" Link walked a little closer, wary of this newfound form of Dark Link's.

Dark Link met Link's gaze again, stopping the young man in his tracks. "The Triforce freed me."

He looked toward the Master Sword. It still had the glow that it had when he had merged his own Dark Master Sword with the sword of light. Reaching out, he placed his hand on the hilt, yet only light enough to graze against the glow of it. He lifted upward, his light touch lifting the Dark Master Sword from its double. The shadow of the sword was soon entirely separate, yet as soon as it was fully moved it began to harden, the shadow forging itself into a sword of its own. Soon, the sword appeared just as the Master Sword did, save for the hilt being the dark color black.

As he had become new, the sword had become new. Dark Link sheathed the sword in the scabbard on his back.

"The Spiritual Stones will have to be returned to their rightful holders." Link said. "The Ocarina of Time will have to be returned, too."

"Then return them." He said. "I have no need for them now."

Link nodded, then asked. "Is this what you wanted, a new body?"

Dark Link nodded.

"Why?" He asked.

"I don't have to kill you anymore. Ganondorf created me, but the Water Temple gave me my mind." He replied. "There are other things in this world I would rather do than hunt after you."

Link watched as Dark Link started to walk away. Just as his darker half was able to go a few steps away, Link spoke up. "Where will you go now?"

"I go where I will." Was all that Dark Link said as he walked out of the Temple of Time, past the pedestal that contained the three Spiritual stones and out of the immense front entrance.

The absence of light in the windows meant only that it was night. He noted this. Would all of his travels start in darkness?


	9. Chapter IX

Chapter IX

That night, Malon stood alone in the field, softly humming to herself the song that her mother had taught her many years ago. It made her feel better when she sang it, though this night felt different than any other night. Her problems any other night would have been easily sung away, and she would not have to worry much about them the morning after. She sometimes wondered why life had to be so complex. It would be much simpler if she would just close her eyes and not see anymore that had to happen.

She closed her eyes.

Yet the whinny of a familiar horse brought her to open them again.

Trotting into the pasture was none other than Epoch, saddless and bridleless, however. The great black stallion trotted over to her and lowered his head, pushing his muzzle into her hand. Malon smiled softly.

"At least you've returned to me, Epoch. How long will you stay this time?" She asked the horse as she gently patted his nose, then smoothed out his bangs to one side.

Her breath stilled in her throat and her eyes grew wide as a hand was placed on top of her own. Her eyes followed the hand upward the arm, past the shoulder... His face! She knew that face! It was the young man from her dream she had had many nights ago. She had never been able to touch him in her dream. Now, he was touching her. She knew, though, who he was. One look in those red eyes told her the truth, though there was not the evil glow in them now.

"It is you." She said. "I know it is. But how...?"

"Only I know what I do." He replied, moving his hand off of hers and touching her cheek lightly.

He brought his lips down to hers, and she met him halfway. The kiss was just like it had been that night before, gentle with a tenderness that she never knew Dark Link possessed, even going as far as to leaving the tingling sensation that seemed to form every time she dared touch him. Everything seemed to come together for Dark Link in that sudden instant. The answers he had searched for this long time was right here, hidden in this simple action. He knew they were there. Yet, they were just beyond his reach, leaving even more questions.

He pulled away, his gaze firm with her own. He had seen her eyes many times before now, yet this time it was different. As if there was a light embedded inside. Malon placed her hand on his lightly, feeling his skin against her own. She could almost not believe that this was real. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if she was dreaming.

"You're Hylian now. What are you going to do?" She asked. "We can't keep you a secret for much longer."

"No, we can't. I'll have to find another place." He replied. "No use in waiting."

"You're not going anywhere tonight!" Malon exclaimed, her eyes widening.

"I come and go when I want." He said, expressionless. Then, a single moment later before Malon could speak he added, "However, I wasn't planning on leaving tonight."

She smiled. "Were you planning on staying in the stable as well? Now that you're Hylian, you won't find the stable as comfortable."

"Then what do you propose?" He asked. He had been planning on to stay in the stable as usual until later when he could search for a place of his own.

"You can stay in my room tonight. There's an extra cot in the closet you can sleep on. Dad never did like sleeping in a bed." She said.

"That's why he's downstairs?"

She nodded and smiled. She never knew what her dad had against beds, nor did she really care now. In the past she wasn't so sure, but only because she wanted her father to be comfortable. Talon was no doubt comfortable, for he slept usually nearly all day when he could. Lately since they had sent Ingo on a short, well deserved vacation he had been having to get up early to do the chores that Ingo usually did.

Dark Link looked at the cot. Sleeping wasn't usually something he did very often, not growing tired enough for sleep until at most a day or two had passed by. Even then, this was a unique change for him, his usual resting hours by day and not by night.

All the same, he knew this new body would not hold up the same as his other, more shadowy form. He had to undergo some habitual changes. Tomorrow would be a full day for him. Several things had to be learned, and several others, specifically one, had to be learned not to be feared.

------------- ------------- -------------

The morning that followed was nothing less than a rude awakening. Dark Link's eyes flew open as the sound of a knock on the bedroom door echoed. In one swift motion he leapt from the cot, his gaze settling with a statue's cold stare on the door handle as it began to turn.

Malon yawned and stretched, sleep still daring to try and remain. She opened her eyes lazily and looked over to the cot resting beside her bed.

Empty.

She jerked around and watched as Talon opened the door and peeked into the room. She couldn't find her voice. Her dad was never awake this early! She hadn't seen Dark Link yet this morn, but that did not mean her father wouldn't! She grabbed a fistful of the blanket and gripped it hard.

"You awake, darlin'?" Talon asked, a sleepy gaze to his eyes. It was very obvious he had only awakened a small amount of time ago.

Only when she began to speak did she realize she had been holding her breath. "Y-Yes, Daddy."

"What's wrong, Malon?" He frowned. "You don't sound like yourself."

She made a fast recovery, thinking quickly as she could. "Just a little sleepy, that's all. Why are you up so early?"

"Huh?" He blinked, then remembered what he had come here for. "Oh yeah." He scratched his head. "Messenger came from the castle, said there's a bunch of cows running loose up there. I gotta go an' catch them all before they break anything. I'll probably be gone the rest of the day."

"Ok. I'll take care of things here. Be careful, Dad." She said, trying to stifle a yawn. This sort of thing seemed to happen a lot up there at the castle. There was a man in Hyrule Market that kept trying to keep cows in the back of his shop, which only caused trouble when they got out. Mostly because he couldn't handle them and someone from Lon Lon Ranch always had to be called in.

"See you tonight." He turned around and left. "By, honey."

As soon as Talon shut the door behind him she leapt out of bed and looked from wall to wall around the room, nothing escaping her eyes. Dark Link wasn't there! She knew he wasn't under the bed, and she definitely hadn't dreamed last night, so where was he...?

The closet door opened, and Dark Link looked out, his gaze settling on Malon. When Talon had been turning the doorknob he had reacted on his first choice, sidestepping into the nearby closet. It had worked well enough as a hiding place, even if it was almost too small for him. He had to press himself up against the wall hard just to make sure his entire body was out of view just in case the door had been opened.

Malon giggled. "I should have known not to worry." She walked up to him. "Dad's not going to be here all day. What are your plans for today?"

"Day?" He had caught onto that word well enough. "I've never been outside in the daylight."

Malon grinned. This would be like teaching a child. A very grown-up child, but a child all the same. "Then I'm going to show you what the life of a daytime person is like."

-------------

His first experience was with a thing called breakfast. Never before had he needed any method of nourishment, or any kind of drink for any matter, but he found this new "alive" body both hungry and thirsty, necessities he had never thought of before. Eathing, however, would not necessarily be a new pleasure for him. Mundane, he thought it to be. Though, he knew he could not help but admit to, Malon's cooking was outstanding, even if it was the first taste of food he had ever encountered.

His second experience was one he would remember forever.

The front door was opened, and the sunlight streamed inside, the rays lighting the orom. He reached out with his hand toward the closest ray of sun to him. His thoughts turned to when he had gained a scar before of the light. But that had been his other self. This self... His eyes widened slightly. His hand was in full sun, and the light caused no pain. A pleasant warmness was all that had followed the encounter.

"Welcome to my world." Malon smiled softly and took his hand, pulling him fully outside into the daylight. He did not resist.

For the first time, Dark Link peered upward at the sun, blocking most of the brightness from his eyes with his hand. He had known before what the sun was, yet the knowledge was only feelings he got of it through Link's memories into his own. Now, as he was viewing what he thought was a masterpiece of nature, he saw what appeared to be a monsterous fireball hanging in the sky by a single invisible thread of power. Out here in the day was a sensation he knew he would never forget. The warmth of the sun's rays spreading over him...

It was something that he now treasured. Before he had loathed such a thing, restricting his movement. Now...

"Don't look at the sun too long. You'll go blind." He heard Malon say.

He looked down at Malon. She was still smiling, though it was the softest smile he had ever seen on her. His eyes didn't really hurt at all, but he supposed that if something did look at the sun long enough the light would hurt them.

"Now you can help me with my chores." She said. She handed him a bucket of feed that she had gathered and nodded toward the stable. "The cow needs to be fed. Epoch, too, if he's in there. I'll let the horses out into the pasture."

He nodded and opened the door to the stable, walking inside. His eyes shifted to gaze at the place he had many a time before stood. It seemed strange to be looking at it from this angle now. Several times he had caught himself wondering how Malon had felt looking at him standing in that dark corner. After pouring the feed into the feed trough for the cow, he looked over at Epoch, who was in the stall. He poured the feed for the great stallion, then stood there, watching the stallion eat the food. The stallion still had on the bridle of shadow that he had made before. With one hand Link stroked the side of the bridle that was next to the horse's jaw. It was almost as if he was touching nothing, yet it was there as clearly as day, and he could feel it.

It must've been the same of how he had been.

He looked over and saw a saddle on the wall. He did have plans for today.


	10. Chapter X

Chapter X

When Malon returned from putting all the horses in the pasture, she was amazed to find Dark Link saddling Epoch in the yard in front of the house. Epoch was standing there calmly as he tightened down the saddle comfortably on his back, which was something the horse never let anyone get close enough with a saddle to him to do before. Epoch and Dark Link were undoubtedly made for each other, or so it seemed to her. Still, what was he doing tacking up the horse now?

"What are you doing?" She asked him as she walked up.

Dark Link finished what he was doing and looked up at her. "What parts of Hyrule I have seen have been during the night. I want to see it for myself."

Malon frowned lightly. "What time do you think you'll be back?"

He answered truthfully. "I don't know, perhaps tonight. Maybe tomorrow." He mounted Epoch, then looked down at her. "I was hoping you would come along. I need a guide."

She smiled and walked over to him. He reached out his hand and helped her into the saddle behind him and placed one arm lightly around his waist so she wouldn't fall off in case of a jolt. She had never ridden Epoch before, the stallion always being so wild that nobody could ride him, and here he was as tame as could be under Dark Link's control. It was like Epona when Link was mounted on her. The mare wouldn't even mind Malon as well as she would mind Link. The two had bonded inseparably.

"Where are we going to go first?" She asked.

"I've been wanting to see Lake Hylia." He said. "That's only a couple of hours away."

"How do you get there in two hours?" She asked, amazed. "It takes me nearly three to get there myself!"

"I cut through Gerudo Pass." Dark Link said. "It's a shortcut."

------------- ------------- -------------

To Dark Link, everything he saw looked new, even Hyrule Field. What amazed him the most was his shadow. He had not had a shadow before, and it was completely new to him. He liked to think of it as a piece of his old self that remained after his change. When they got to Lake Hylia, the cool breeze coming off of the water was refreshing to them. He dismounted Epoch and helped Malon down.

"You've never seen the Water Temple from this side before, have you?" Malon asked, smiling.

He shook his head. "No, I haven't. It's...strange."

"It's new! That's what it is." She kept her smile and walked over to him. He had walked over to the water's edge and was kneeling down by it with his hand in the water. "What are you doing?"

"I can feel the water."

"Of course you can, silly!"

"No, I can feel the water." He said again. "Before, I couldn't feel it. Not very well, anyway."

"You'll find a lot of things have changed." She said.

He nodded, then stood up. "I was thinking about building a house for myself around Lake Hylia. Though I've been changed, the magic of the Water Temple still runs strongely through me, and it's calling me near it."

------------- ------------- -------------

The day passed, and soon it was night again. Dark Link stood under the dead tree on the island in the middle of the lake. His gaze was set firmly on the moon as it rose. He had watched the sun as it set, and the moon as it rose. They were both very new things to him. He wanted to see and experience everything.

Malon, who was sitting down on the ground leaning against the tree, smiled. "I guess this is the first time you've been awake all day for once."

He smiled back. "It is. It feels strange."

"Strange must be your favorite word." She laughed.

He caught himself almost grinning. "Everything is indeed strange. Tell me one thing here that does not fit that description, and I will start using a different word."

"Ok, um..." Malon started to think, looking around to get some ideas. She saw a tektite in the distance. "That tektite over there."

"It looks half spider, half crab, and it has been proven its brains are nothing less than a handful of slime." He said. "How do you consider that not strange?"

"Give me time! I'll think of something else." She said, another thought entering her mind. "The grass, then!"

Dark Link sat down next to her and leaned on the tree as well, picking a blade of grass, holding it up for both of them to see. "This is the same type of grass that grows around Lon Lon Ranch, is it not?" Malon nodded. "The grass around the ranch needs to be mowed every three weeks, whereas this grass here has never grown above the height it is now. It's only two inches tall."

"I guess that is pretty strange." Malon had to admit, she had never looked at things that way before. "Do you make a habit out of finding how strange things are? It's like you don't overlook anything."

"There's too much to see to overlook things."

"Ok, then." She smiled. "Me."

He raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What is the strangeness in you?"

"Of course! So tell me. You said everything was strange."

Dark Link looked at her for a moment, though looking at her as he was he found it hard to find anything strange about her. Then, he knew what to say. "You make me feel strange."

Malon leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. Dark Link put his arm around her waist, his other hand holding hers as they kissed. The kiss was tender, nothing demanding or even regretful. Neither of them wanted the kiss to end, but when it did, Dark Link simply held her, her head resting on his shoulder as she listened to his heart beat. For a moment she thought the simple sound of it would lull her to sleep.

"What do you call this feeling?"

Malon opened her eyes and looked up at him when he asked that. "I...think it's called love. You've never heard that word before?"

"I've heard the word, but never known the meaning." He answered. "Not until now."

It took only a couple more moments before Malon was asleep, and Dark Link didn't move, for he feared that he might wake her. It startled him for a moment. Him, Dark Link, fear something? It didn't feel right, nor did it seem right, but Malon there on his shoulder, dreaming of her own worlds, did feel right.

------------- ------------- -------------

When Malon awoke in the morning, she smiled. The grass was so warm and soft. It was almost as comfortable as her bed. The wonderful scent of it filled her senses. She sat up and stretched, looking around. She couldn't see Dark Link anywhere, but she knew he had to be somewhere around here. He wouldn't just run off without her, would he?

She stood up and looked up at the sky. Out of the corner of her eye she caught glimpse of a sight she didn't really expect to see. The top of the island's tree had been cut off level long ago, and since then the tree hadn't grown a single leaf on its branches. It wasn't really dead, but everyone called it so. On top of the tree on the level segment was Dark Link, sitting there with his arms in his lap as he looked around Lake Hylia. She covered her mouth with her hands and tried to stifle her giggles. If anybody else would have told her that they had found him sitting on top of a tree in the middle of Lake Hylia, she would have not believed it!

She clasped her hangs behind her back, still smiling up at him. "Enjoying yourself up there?"

Dark Link looked down at her and leapt off of the tree, landing a few feet away from her as easily as if the drop had only been a couple of feet in height. He looked upward at the sun, which was right above them, meaning that it was noon.

"I've discovered many things, such as the warmest rays of the sun are the morning ones." He smiled softly. "Just a moment before the sun is fully off of the horizon, the wind doesn't blow."

"Speaking of which," Malon said, getting his attention on her. "I slept late. I'll never get to sleep tonight now."

Dark Link didn't seem to be listening to her last words, though. She could tell by the look in his eyes that his thoughts were somewhere else, even if he was listening to her at all. It surprised her when he asked, "Have you ever been inside of the Water Temple?"

"No." She answered. "Why?"

"Would you like to?"

"I'm not like a Zora, silly, and I don't have a Zora Tunic like Link does! I can't breath underwater!"

"Not if you trust me." He said. "As long as you're holding my hand, you won't drown."

"In that case..." She said, looking at the water. "I'd be willing to give it a try, I think. I've always wanted to see inside a temple."

He held out his hand to her, and she slowly took it. The hold wasn't tight, but it was firm, letting him know that she wasn't going to let go if she could help it, and she knew the same from him. He led her to the side of the island and looked down. The Water Temple's entrance was right beneath them. They would have to float down to it. He knew of what the Water Temple's magic in him would let him do.

At the same time, the two of them jumped off into the water. Malon closed her eyes...

When she opened them back up again, it was like she couldn't hardly feel the water at all. Normally she had a hard time opening her eyes underwater, but though she could feel the water against her skin, she wasn't getting wet, and she couldn't feel it at all against her eyes. She looked down. They were sinking downward through the water, and she could see the gate entrance of the Water Temple clearly. Out in front of the entrance on the lake floor was a large white tiled path. It was in the middle of that path that they landed.

Dark Link raised his left hand, and the gates of the temple's entrance slid upward. Malon walked forward with him into the dark depths. She knew that it was difficult to walk through the water when wading on the shore, but she found no difficulty in walking under the water like this.

"It's beautiful!" Those were her first words upon seeing the sights inside the Water Temple as she and Dark Link stood on the edge of the entrance ledge on the temple's third floor.

Since they had left the water only a couple of moments ago, they had let go of each other's hands. Malon had her hands clasped together at her chest as she looked downward at the two other levels of water below. Through the water she could see doors, walkways, and the bottom looked almost like a beach, full of sand. The Water Temple was beautiful, beyond any of her expectations. She looked over at the doors of the third floor. There were only two, one on one side and the other on the completely opposite side. One of the doors had strange statues of dragon heads adorning the platform carved into the wall where it was. There were amazing designs here and there on the walls nearby it as well.

The other door, she noted, had no designs. It was simply a metal door, the platform in front of it floating on top of the water. There were no designs on the wall near it, no adornments at all. It looked lonely.

"What's that door?" She asked, pointing toward the door near the dragon head statues.

"That leads to the heart of the Water Temple." Dark Link explained. "Previously, it had contained Morpha, the Guardian of the Water Temple. Since Link had to destroy Morpha, the temple has been without a Guardian. The Morpha contained inside right now is still too young to carry on its duties, only a child."

"Does the Water Temple always create a new Morpha when the old one dies?"

He nodded.

"Then," She asked, looking at the lonely door on the other side. "what is on the other side of that door?"

He didn't hesitate in telling her. "Beyond is a room with a waterfall that drops all the way to the bottom of the temple. There are platforms that seem to skim down the waterfall, allowing a fast person to cross if they can."

"I've heard of that room!" Malon smiled. "Link told me about it once. There's a door there that leads to a room where he found you the first time, right?"

He nodded. "It's called the Room of Illusions."

"If you don't mind," She asked, "can I see it?"

He looked toward the door. "Why should I mind?"

"Some people don't like where they came from."

"The Water Temple is a noble place. I'm not ashamed of any of it."

"How are we going to get across?" She asked. "Swim?"

"Normally." He looked down at the water. "However, though it doesn't look like there are any currents in here, the water will draw down anyone who is doesn't think belongs here, even when you are holding my hand."

"Then how?"

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, the water covering the entire third level started to freeze into ice, becoming harder and harder by the second. The thickness didn't go deep, only a couple of inches, but it was stronger than most ice of its size. Malon looked on in awe as the water froze. She shifted her gaze from the ice to Dark Link, who was now looking at her intently. There was a glimmer in his eyes that she hadn't seen before, and she knew what it was. It had to be the magic of the Water Temple surfacing in him.

"You did that, didn't you?" She smiled. "You froze the water."

He didn't answer, only a smile on his face as he led her across. The ice wasn't slippery, which Malon had expected at first. All ice she had come in contact with in her life had been slippery, and all her memories showed her that she had always fallen down on her butt or some other part of her body. This ice was hard and smooth, and it was dry.

When they entered the room with the huge waterfall, the sound of the falling water roared in her ears. She didn't make a move to block the sound, however. She didn't want to. She was too busy taking in the pure sight of it, watching as the platforms stayed level as the fell down the waterfall, carried by the slowly flowing water. She had never seen water travel so slowly and so fast as the same moment in time. Another part of the magic that was in and out of everything here.

"Now how are we to cross?" She looked at Dark Link.

Dark Link simply pointed to a ledge that only stood out two feet from the wall. It was large enough for them to travel by to the other side. It connected both sides to each other.

"That?" Malon looked at the ledge, then over the corner of the floor to the…endless pit below. It didn't look all that inviting to her at the moment, especially if she should fall. "What if I fall…?"

"You won't."

As Dark Link had said, she didn't. In fact, the walk to the other side via the ledge was a simple one, one with so much ease that Malon wouldn't have thought it possible. To traverse such a pit so easily?

Once they had traversed the pit to the other side, and were standing by the locked door there, Malon had to ask, "Was that how Link made it past?"

Dark Link shook his head. "No. He didn't know the ledge was there until later. You see the platforms coming out of the waterfall?" He pointed down at the waterfall, and Malon nodded. "He had to climb up those to get from one side to the other."

"If only he had paid attention more." She sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if he ever does something the easy way!"

Dark Link almost smiled. Out of all the memories of Link's that he still held, he could not find one memory of anything where as Link had accomplished something with what would be known as the 'easy way'. When Link was younger, he had always wanted the easy way, and yet could never find it whenever it needed to be handy. Upon growing up, however, Link wanted to be a hero, to show off as much as he could possibly manage, never taking the 'easy way' even if it was by the merest means.

The door next to them unlocked when they stepped up to it. Dark Link motioned for Malon to be the first to step through, and so she was. The room she stepped into wasn't much in appearance, nothing but a semi-large room completely metal-tiled walled, the floor made of metal and tiled as well. The metal looked to be blue steel, and yet was something oddly different. On the other side of the room, Malon spied a door. The door was locked, iron bars leading across it and into the walls themselves.

As soon as Dark Link stepped into the room, the door behind him locked as well, the same metal bars slamming shut to block anyone from entering, or escaping. Malon turned and gasped at the sudden sound, the fact of the door locking surprising and confusing her.

"Don't worry. The magic of this room causes the doors to do that. I can open the locks whenever you want to leave." Dark Link explained to her.

Malon clasped her hands behind her back and tried to look like she hadn't been scared at all. "It's ok. It…startled me, that's all." She walked a couple of steps toward the center of the room, looking over at everything. "Is this the…"

"Room of Illusions?" Dark Link finished for her. With a nod, he answered, "This was the room I was born in, and the room in which I fought Link for the first time."

"It's looks different than how it had been described."

All it took was a single thought on Dark Link's part for the room to suddenly change. First, water appeared on the floor, ankle deep to them, clear as crystal and as cool as the freshest water from the depths of Lake Hylia. A seemingly dead tree appeared in the center of the room, only 10 or so feet in height, branching out slightly toward the ceiling. Then, the walls themselves seemed to disappear, the room appearing suddenly endless, and a few pieces of rubble from archways appeared near where the corners of the room had originally been placed. The floor reflected the ceiling, which had now taken upon the appearance of a vastness of white clouded sky.

"How…?" Malon walked forward to the tree in the center of the room, touching the tree lightly with her right hand.

The tree was rough against her skin, just as a tree should be. The water she was walking through felt wet, and felt indeed like water, just as water should. There was a breeze flowing through the air, and she could feel it playing lightly with her bangs, blowing them somewhat about. Amazement in her eyes, she turned her gaze upon Dark Link. Before Dark Link had taken upon this form, he had been such a shadowy figure, unable to handle even sunlight without harm befalling him, and yet he had been born in such a place of light as this? Such a place of endless beauty, or so it seemed?

And yet, she reminded herself, it was only the Room of Illusion. Everything here was not real. She turned her attentions to the walls, which had disappeared to her.

"Are the walls still there?" She asked.

Dark Link walked over to where one of the walls had been, and he turned his gaze upon her. "Come here."

Malon did, and, when she was standing next to him, he too her hand in his own and moved it forward till it met where the wall should have been. It stopped, as if there was an invisible barrier there that she could not see still pretending to be the wall. He moved her hand across the barrier, keeping it in contact. Malon could feel where the metal tiles of the room connected to one another, just as she had seen it only a moment earlier.

"I suppose even an illusion can fool someone at times, even if they know what it is." She said as he took her hand from the wall. She smiled when he did not let go of her hand, holding it gently in his own. It was then she dared to ask, "Is it too much to ask if I could see the young Morpha? I've…only heard stories about what it looks like."

"What have you heard?"

"I've heard from the Zoras that it looks much like a long snake made of water, and from Link I've heard it looks like a huge water tentacle."

"Link's description was more accurate than the Zoras." He said. "The young one doesn't appear anything close, however."

"Does this mean you'll take me to see it?" She was hopeful.

"Of course I will. The Water Temple won't be angry."

It was only a moment that had passed before Malon found herself and Dark Link walking through a large door that led into the main boss chamber of the Water Temple. There were two flat-topped columns sticking up out of the water by a foot in the middle of the room, which was nearly a complete rectangle of at least fifteen foot deep water. The walkway around the rectangle of water was at most six feet in width.

Malon looked around her at the sheer size of the chamber, then turned her gaze upon Dark Link. "Is this where Morpha is?"

Dark Link nodded.

"I don't see it."

A small smile came across his features. "You're not looking hard enough."

He walked over to the edge of the water, holding his hand out just above the surface. For a moment that seemed an entire minute, yet only a few seconds passed, nothing happened, then suddenly the water began to form into a small column leading upward into his hand. What appeared to be a strange mixture of three pulsing blue and red balls appeared from the water, moving up through the column and resting on his hand, a bubble of water around it. The water bubble, though it looked fragile in appearance, was sturdy, staying in place even as Dark Link stood, lifting the young Morpha from the water.

He turned and faced Malon, holding the creature out for her to see. "It does not appear as you've heard now, but as I've said, it is still young. In another year, it will grow a little larger than it is now, and be able to control a long, whip-like tentacle of water, just like the one before that Link had fought against."

Morpha continued to pulse as it lie in his hand, no apparent thoughts or actions moving through it. Malon was nearly shocked when Dark Link moved toward her, holding it out to her as if for her to take it in her own hand to hold. She was about to ask if it was safe, and yet she knew Dark Link would not bring it upon her if it was not indeed safe enough for her to handle. Not many could she trust in this way, though not many, she knew, would put their trust in Dark Link's actions. She held out her hand next to his. The Morpha slid over to her hand as easily as if it knew that it would not be harmed as such. Besides the coolness of the water and the pulsing, rhythmic beat as it pulsed inside it's ball of water, she felt nothing.

"It's beautiful." A smile came to her lips. "Almost mesmerizing."

Morpha now was only six inches or so in diameter. Over the next year it would grow exponentially, Dark Link knew, as he had told Malon. Upon then, Morpha would grow more wild, more independent and unable to be controlled, as it could now as a youngling. When it became a full adult version of itself, it would even have the urge to attack those who had protected it, thinking of only the safety of the Water Temple. The magic of the Water Temple could not be released without going through Morpha first. Dark Link could bypass that all, but only on the part which he held part of the Water Temple's magic as a deep ingrained part of himself.


	11. Chapter XI

Chapter XI

When Malon and Dark Link finally emerged from the entrance of the Water Temple, the sky had grown dark with night, and the night birds could be heard calling to each other as they soared above the lake. Malon remained amazed at the fact that, though she and Dark Link had been underwater in both going in and leaving the temple, they were dry as if they had never touched water at all. She knew it must be part of the magic she didn't understand. Of that she was sure.

Epoch was there on the shore waiting for them. Dark Link was not tired in the least, and Malon found it strange that she was neither sleepy nor exhausted as well. Malon considered the fact that an entire day had passed, and she had to make a decision she herself wasn't all too happy with. She knew she had to return to the ranch. Though because of the sights she had seen this day, she wanted to see what else she could of Hyrule.

However, Talon would be wondering where she disappeared to…

"We'd better get back home before Dad worries too much." Malon told Dark Link, who was standing near the water.

Dark Link removed his gaze from the reflection of the moon upon the water's surface and shifted it to Malon. He could tell from her voice that she didn't want to go. He didn't want to go, either, but he knew she was only telling the truth.

Without uttering a single word, he mounted Epoch and held out his hand to help Malon to mount as well. Malon situated herself behind Dark Link as she had earlier the day before, wrapping her arms around his middle. She didn't see the smile Dark Link expressed from that small action. He welcomed every feeling he received now with open arms, savoring the ones that he received from her.

"What about the Stalchild?" Malon asked when they started toward Hyrule Field.

"They won't bother us as long as we keep to the road." He replied. "The first night I had met Epoch he had been cornered by many Stalchild. I warded them off, and Epoch disappeared."

-------------

In only two hours time or so, they soon were riding through the front gates of Lon Lon Ranch, though it wasn't known to Malon. The smooth walking motion of the great black stallion had made her sleepy, and when she had placed her head on Dark Link's back to rest, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat had lulled her at finally last to a peaceful, quiet rest. Epoch stopped just outside of the ranch house door, and Dark Link dismounted carefully as to not awaken her, cradling her in his arms with her head resting on his shoulder as she continued to sleep soundly. At first he had been worried about walking into the building to find a fully awake Talon, then having to explain who he was and why he had Malon in his arms asleep. He dismissed the thoughts. He'd explain if he had to. He was no coward. Upon walking through the front door, however, he needed to explanation.

Talon was asleep in his usual place, the three Super Cuccos roosted on the box at Talon's back. Dark Link carried Malon up the stairs and into her room, laying her upon the bed inside. He took off her shoes and placed the blanket over her to keep her warm. She was naught else but a sleeping beauty to him at that moment. Kneeling down beside the bed, he stroked her cheek gently with the fingers of his right hand. It amused him to think of what his creator would say if he knew what his creation had become. Dark Link knew he had given up all reason when he had become living as he was now, the only reason he knew was to give up being a monster.

People did not love monsters.

That was his reason and purpose here, he decided. He didn't have to create his own purpose. His purpose had come to him. His purpose here was to…

He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips, and a small smile came to her face even while she slept.

His purpose was to love her.

That night only a short matter of time after he closed his eyes in sleep, a vision came to Dark Link in his dreams. Crystalline fractals and beautiful blue colors danced across the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room in which he stood. It was a small room, one he could not remember ever seeing before. He felt like he was surrounded by water, yet even as he reached out to prove this theory he grasped nothing but air.

"_Dark Link…" _

_The voice seemed to resound in his head fifty times over. Looking around, he could not see from where it came. _

"_The Sage of the Water Temple, Ruto, is my protector now, but even she cannot control my magic…" The voice spoke. _

_He knew then that this was not a dream of normal caliber. He continued to gaze at the walls, turning his vision upward to the ceiling, then to the floor. The voice had seemed to come from everywhere the last time it had spoken to him. There was recognition with it somewhere inside him, deep inside his being. He knew who was speaking, and he knew to listen carefully to the words. _

"_Morpha is too young to do what is needed." The voice echoed for a moment before steadying itself to speak a few moments later. "Until Morpha grows…"_

_The voice started to fade, and Dark Link missed what words had come after at the end of the sentence. Even straining to hear could not help him to know what was said. _

_He spoke to the voice, "You're fading. I didn't hear you."_

"_Don't hear. Don't see." The voice came back. It wasn't as strong as it had been previously, but it was strong enough to be heard. "Understand. The magic needs to be controlled and tempered. Ruto is the Sage. You be the Guardian…"_

"_Guardian?"_

"_Guardian…" The voice echoed. "When Morpha needs help, help it… Teach it…"_

Dark Link sat up straight in the cot, his eyes wide and his mind awake and alert. The voice had faded from his mind, yet the words had not. They echoed over and over, repeating themselves. Morpha was young, yes, but so young it could not control the magic of the Water Temple as it had in the past? It controlled the magic by bottling the excess that was created within itself. Morpha was directly linked with the temple. Morpha had to have been young before, and the Water Temple survived. It was calling for help now.

He contained some of the magic inside of him. It was possible that Ganondorf had used some of the excess magic contained inside Morpha to create him. That would tie him and Morpha, and the temple, together, bound by both fate and magic. That would explain how the Water Temple had managed to come to him in his dreams. Sliding out of bed, he walked out the door and ventured downstairs, leaving the ranch house for the stables. Epoch was there, awake. The horse was still used to the night that it refused to sleep too much during the day. It never suffered physically or mentally from its sleeping habits, which was all too well. Without bothering with a saddle, Dark Link led Epoch out of the stable and mounted him bareback, riding off at a run toward the Water Temple.

If there was time enough, he would return in the morning before Malon awoke…

------------- ------------- -------------

When he entered the temple, a loud mental screaming pierced him, one unlike he had never heard of, or imagined, before. As fast as his legs could carry him he sprinted toward Morpha's chamber.

Morpha thrashed about with a small tentacle of water near the middle of the pool where it resided, the mental cry coming from its own mind. It glowed red, becoming redder with every second that passed. Dark Link leapt to the middle platform over the pool, reaching down into the water and grasping hold of the molecular Morpha. He leapt down into the water and held the young Morpha tightly to his body, refusing to let the squirming object away. A blue glow faintly enveloped his body as he concentrated, surrounding both himself and the young creature. Morpha's mental screams started to die down. Its body began to turn from the blood red color it bore to a lighter tone of blue. Slowly, eventually, it began to return to its normal colors of blue and red.

Calm. Finally.

Dark Link released the now calmed Morpha and grasped hold of the platform, keeping himself afloat. Never before could he remember being as tired as he was this night. Most of his energy had been taken out of him and delivered into Morpha so the youngling could have extra strength to take on its adult task. Morpha pulsated in the water next to him, as if it was looking up at him, or possibly giving him thanks. He turned his stare toward it. Actually, it looked only like it was wondering what he was doing floating in its own personal pool with it.

He pulled himself onto the platform and lay on his back, closing his eyes and letting sleep overcome him. He would not be back by morning for Malon, but Malon would have to wait. She would understand.


	12. Chapter XII

Chapter XII

Malon was surprised to find herself waking by herself. Even more surprised was she when she found herself and her father the only two on the entire ranch. Dark Link was nowhere to be found. As she went about her morning chores, she kept a close watch on the entrance gate. For the duration of the entire morning hours, Dark Link never entered.

It wasn't until that evening that Dark Link appeared, riding in on Epoch. Talon was taking his afternoon nap inside the house, and Malon was brushing one of the buckskin horses that resided on the ranch. When she heard the sound of the black stallion's heavy hooves, she turned around, a visage of happiness thrown across her face.

"Where…?" She started to get out, but didn't finish.

Dark Link dismounted from Epoch and looked her way. "It's a story I don't fully understand myself."

-------------

Later that night while the two of them put the horses up in the stable, he told her the entire story of what he knew of it. Malon listened intently.

When he was finished, she spoke, "Morpha is young. Hylian legend says that Morpha was created, appearing as a giant water snake suddenly and attacking all unworthy who entered into the Water Temple. I don't believe Morpha has ever been young as this before."

"This means I will be moving into the Water Temple until Morpha grows of age. I suppose I have found my new house." Dark Link said as he folded his arms across his chest.

Malon was a little visibly saddened by this turn of events. She had wanted him to stay, but inside she knew that he couldn't keep as a secret from her father forever. "I guess…"

Dark Link could hear the disappointment in her voice. He allowed himself a small smile as he poured Epoch's night feed into the horse's stall trough. "Is the thought that I will leave you going through your head?"

"Leave me?" Malon's eyes went a bit wider. She hadn't expected that from him. "I don't think-"

"It's what you thought." He turned his gaze upon her.

She adverted his eyes from his and sighed. She patted a nearby horse's muzzle lightly. "I guess at first I did…"

Dark Link hung the feed bucket by its handle on the front of the stall door before walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist. Her back was to his chest, her body pressed lightly up against his. Malon could not only feel the normal warmth of his body, but she was sure she could feel the tingling sensation she always received when she touched him. It felt wonderful to her. However, it also took her by surprise. Being used to Dark Link as someone who wanted to hold her was not what she was.

"Then don't think." He said to her. "If I leave you, then I don't deserve the gift I've been given."

She snuggled herself into his arms, which he moved from her waist to envelope her. For the next couple of seconds that passed the two just enjoyed each other's company, listening to each other's breathing. In Malon's case, she listened to the steady, unfaltering rhythm of his heart beat. Now, her thoughts changed. She didn't know why she had thought what she had. There was this feeling inside her that told her Dark Link would never leave…

Suddenly, the doorknob of the main door of the stable began to turn, the creaking of the wood giving as it started to open filling the ears of the two inside. Dark Link released his hold on Malon. When Malon turned around to tell him to hide, she realized there was no need. Dark Link was nowhere to be seen. Nowhere that she could see, at any rate. The door opened up fully, Talon making his appearance. Malon quickly grabbed up an empty feed bucket before Talon could suspect anything otherwise.

"Hello, Dad!" Malon smiled cheerfully. "I thought you were going to sleep?"

Talon smiled back. "I remembered something. I got a letter from Ingo. Seems he caught a cold or something on vacation. I was going to put up a flyer for an extra hand around here until Ingo comes back."

"You want me to put up a few flyers around the castle?" Malon asked.

"I wanted to see if you had any friends who would be good at the job." He replied. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Wanted to ask you first."

Malon smiled. Her dad was always asking her opinion on things before he made any decisions of that such. It had been that way ever since she had been a child. It wasn't anything knew, and she was used to it. Still, this time was different. A thought ran across her mind. She did have someone that she could introduce to the job, someone that already knew most of the workings on the farm. It made her laugh inside to think that this was her little secret. There weren't many secrets that someone like her could keep.

"I think I might have one friend who'd like the job." Malon nodded, holding the feed bucket to her chest with her arms hugged around it. "I'll ask him."

Talon smiled. "Ok, honey! I'll put up flyers in Marketplace tmorrow. Goodnight!"

With that said, Talon turned and walked out of the door, shutting the door behind him. He had not shut the door his entire visit. The door creaked slowly to. Malon walked to the door and cracked it open just a bit, watching to make sure her dad had entered the house before she closed the door again. Giving the stable a quick scan and not seeing Dark Link anywhere in sight, she shook her head and smiled. He was good at hiding when he needed to. He might as well still be a shadow as far as he appeared about.

"He's gone." She said, a smile still on her face. She gazed around again. "Where are you?"

"Up here."

Malon looked upward. In the rafters of the stable stood Dark Link, his gaze down upon her. In just one leap he had covered the distance to the rafters, hiding up there so that he would not have been seen. His hiding place had worked well enough, he supposed, since he had not been discovered. He jumped down to the floor, landing lightly with his knees bending slightly as he landed. He straightened up and looked at Malon expectantly, having heard everything that she had been speaking about with Talon.

"I take it you are supposing me?" He asked her.

"I was thinking along those lines." She nodded to him. "Would you take the job?"

Dark Link only hesitated a second before he nodded an affirmative. "It's much better than hiding all the time."

"I still don't know how Dad would react if he knew you were my boyfriend, so let's still keep that a secret." Malon said as she walked to the door. She looked at the doorknob for a moment before turning her gaze back unto Dark Link's own. Her smile faded as she asked, "You are sleeping tonight at the Water Temple?"

Dark Link nodded.

"When will I –"

"In the morning." He answered. He didn't need to hear the question in the full. He knew what she had been going to ask. "At the latest, the afternoon."

She allowed herself a smile. "Ok, then. In the morning…" She then added. "Or afternoon." She walked over to him, reaching up and giving him a light kiss on the cheek. She then moved over to the door, saying before she left out it, "Goodnight."

Dark Link watched her go. His mind whirled with many thoughts. The word boyfriend made him think. Somewhere in his mind, he could feel that he wanted much more to become of it than of him to just be her boyfriend. He didn't necessarily believe in marriages. They were just ties that bound two people by the Royal Family's decree. Yet, he knew, the only word that he could come up with to fully describe what he felt was he wanted to be with her always. If marriage was how it was done, then he would want that. Now if he could only know that marriage was what she wanted.

He would wait. Time was something he had plenty of. He would wait and see.


	13. Chapter XIII

Chapter XIII

The next morning, Dark Link saw the Water Temple fit enough to leave it alone. For a while, at least. Epoch's slow, steady walk relaxed him greatly. The road was long still, and the morning was swiftly turning into afternoon. The sun bore down upon him none too heavily, the day neither cold or hot. Only warmth could be felt. He almost felt sleepy as he rode. He shook his head and straightened up his seating position, rubbing his eyes once with his right hand. Falling asleep didn't seem like a good idea at the moment to him.

His attention was caught on an object just down the road from him, heading his way. No, it was more than an object. It was a horse, a brown and white mare, and it's rider was one that Dark Link could recognize more easily than he could his own boots. Link.

The two pulled up their mounts beside on another on the road, their gazes locked intently into each other's own. The silence was broken only by Epona's impatient pawing of the ground. After what seemed like nearly five minutes of silence on the part of both, Link was the first to speak.

"Everything going well?" He asked.

Dark Link nodded. "Well enough." He narrowed his eyes. "What are you, my babysitter?"

"I see you've gotten the hang of sarcasm." Link said to him. "I wouldn't be talking to you if it weren't for Talon. He's gone missing this morning."

"He's not missing." Dark Link replied. "He had a delivery to make early this morning to Gerudo Valley."

Link looked at his counterpart questionably. "He would have returned by now, don't you think?"

Then, Dark Link understood what Link was getting at. Link suspected him of having a part to do in Talon's disappearance. Dark Link narrowed his eyes at the green dressed Hylian. "I had no part in it."

"Then why isn't he back yet?" Link asked.

"Why haven't you checked the Gerudos?" Dark Link asked. "They would have more knowledge of it than I."

Link didn't reply back to Dark Link's answer for almost a full minute. "Then I will check them. You could come along if you want."

"You know more about Gerudo Valley than I do."

"Precisely, which means that I know how dangerous it can be. I might need help."

"You? The one who saved the world from Ganondorf, the one who defeated countless monsters, the Hero Of Time, needs help from me?" Dark Link narrowed his eyes. "Highly doubtful."

Dark Link squeezed Epoch's sides lightly with his legs, the horse stepping forward once again in a slow walk. Dark Link adverted his gaze to the direction in which he had been heading earlier.

"How do you think Malon will feel when she finds out you did nothing to help find her father?" Link said in a calm voice.

Dark Link pulled up Epoch to a halt and looked over his shoulder at the one just a few feet behind him on the road. It was strange, having such a thing held over his head like that. Malon wouldn't be thrilled with the fact that he had turned his back on helping Link, he knew. Especially helping find Talon. He pulled on the reins and turned Epoch around, bringing the black stallion up beside Epona.

He narrowed his eyes at Link. "What you have just done, I believe, is called blackmail."

Link smiled. "I think it was, and I'm surprised it worked."

------------- ------------- -------------

It wasn't long before the two of them were riding through the small canyon toward the Gerudo Fortress. As they crossed the bridge that hung over the huge river that had always flown through the canyon, Dark Link looked down at it. The cliff walls that held in the river were nearly fifty feet down before they finally touched the water below. He then turned his vision from the water below to his left, where the rushing water flowed over in the form of a waterfall. He casually wondered about what was up on the land where the water first flowed over.

"I've never been up there personally," Link said, catching Dark Link's attention. "but the Gerudos told me that the land up there is almost like a meadow. Lush and green."

"In this place, lush and green does not belong in the same sentence." Dark Link replied. "Why haven't you seen it?"

"Was too busy before, and haven't been interested enough now." Link said.

The two of them continued on toward the beginning of the canyon leading to the fortress, the fortress itself built and hidden on the sides of the carved out cliff side. Whoever had built it had been a genius, an architect whose skill could not be easily matched, or so Dark Link thought. It was not an easy task to design something out of solid rock, which is what the buildings were.

To his left, Dark Link noticed something. Something strange. Hidden, or partially hidden, behind a rock outcropping to his left was what appeared to be a wagon of sorts, a wagon of familiarity that he hadn't hoped on. Talon's unpainted, brown wooden wagon. It was still perfectly intact, or so it appeared. Dark Link pulled the reins, moving Epoch around so that the horse would walk toward his find. The horse that Talon used was missing, as was the rigging. Just the wagon…nothing besides left. No scratches, no arrows…

"Here's the wagon." Link said as he rode up, having noticed Dark Link had found it. "The question is, where is Talon? It doesn't look like he was attacked. He could be sleeping somewhere."

"Highly doubtful." Dark Link replied. "You could hear him if he was nearby." He looked into the cargo area back of the wagon. "He had already made his delivery, or the milk containers were taken."

"Let's ask the Gerudos. They should know something." Link said as he pulled Epona around. "I hope."

"Oh, this is great. You sound so confident."

"The moment I lead us astray, you can lead."

"Sounds good to me." Dark Link replied. "Before I dare to take charge, I wish to examine the wagon first."

Dismounting, he walked around the side of the wagon. Link did not contradict his decision to study it more thoroughly. Instead, he stayed mounted atop Epona as his double looked the wagon over. Dark Link ran his hand over the underneath of the wagon as he circled it, his attention caught by the sudden smoothness that he came across. Removing his hand, he found a dark black smudge across his fingertips, they obviously having run across…

"Here. Burn marks." Dark Link knelt down, placing his right hand on the wagon by a section of wood signed black. By the skin of his fingers, he could still feel a goodly amount of warmth emanating from the marked wood.

"Burns?" Link dismounted, striding over to him to kneel down, examining the marks as well, and was prompted to check the rest of the wagon's underside by the find. "There's a couple of other marks, but they're all underneath. It's as if he drove over a campfire."

"Not a campfire." Dark Link said firmly. He knew now what had become of Talon. At least, part of it he was more than certain of. He rose to his feet, watching off down in the general direction of the entrance to the vast desert.

"If we're going to work together, you'll have to speak up a little more." Link turned his gaze to his darker half.

It would take quite some time, learning to work alongside Link. Still, although Dark Link always preferred to work alone, his first choice for an ally would, without doubt, be the Hero Of Time. Of course, if only Link had as little of need for words as he deemed for himself to need. In times like this, he could only remind himself it was all for Malon. Malon was worth every second of aggravation and annoyance he had to undergo on this trip.

"The scorch marks are very distinguished. They're from the lantern of a Poe." Dark Link stated clearly, calm of tone. "It looks to me like Talon was captured by a Poe."

Link stood, leaning on the wooden wagon, frowning, although sadness didn't describe him. He was more angry than saddened. "When will those Poe learn to leave Hylians alone?" He hit the seat of the wagon with his fist. "I'm tired of always dealing with them!"

Dark Link understood. He could call upon many memories of Link's that he could find Link hating the Poes, always dealing with them in one way or another he did not find all too favorable. Dark Link himself had never had any problems with the troublesome apparitions, and none could be found around the Water Temple as well. Not even during the nighttime hours. To be sure, if they came across a Poe, this would be considered the first time Dark Link himself had seen a Poe of any sort.

"Tired or not, I think you know of a way to contact the Poe."

Link turned his gaze once more to that of his coutnerpart's. "You mean what when you say that?"

"I have no memories myself of your exploits that took place after the Water Temple." Dark Link matched his gaze with due sincerity. "Yet, of what importance have you at the Shadow Temple, or more importantly, the Spirit Temple?"

"You're…right." Link pulled from a pouch on his belt what appeared to be a large purple and blue magnifying glass. "The Eye Of Truth would let me see them, and if they are still here in this desert, I know who to ask to find them."

------------- ------------- -------------

Dark Link realized that ultimately he would prefer to die on Link's sword than by the heat of this accursed desert! It was most likely by far less painful. He detested more than anything to seem weaker than Link, and yet while he had already drained half of the water in his canteen, Link had only played with a few sips. If Link had changed his tunic to the bright red Goron's Tunic, he could understand the ease. However, that was not the case. Link still wore his usual green Kokiri Tunic.

He was growing more irritable by the seconds that passed. "I'm boiling. When will we reach our destination?"

"Ease up and go with it, Dark Link. The heat isn't going to change just because you say so." Link replied. "We're almost there."

The sand was beating against every exposed part of his body, and at least he was thankful that Link had to hold up his arm to block the sand from getting to his face as well. Dark Link knew he could hold more than his fair share of loathing for the young man. While he struggled along with the sinking and shifting sand around his ankles, Link wore the Hover Boots. He knew as well the color of his attire played against him. Black boasted the abilities of attracting heat and holding it in, even if his shirt wasn't quite as heavy as the Kokiri Tunic.

Maybe…he was not weaker than Link, but the opposite. Link was, perhaps, taking the easier route…

"I realize you enjoy torturing me, Link, but even I don't deserve cooking to death."

"You're right. Even you don't deserve that." Link smiled as he pointed into the distance. "There. Our destination."

Raising his free hand to his brow, squinting against the brilliant sun, Dark Link could see a pedestal of gray stone rising above the sand. The sandstorm subsided as the two grew closer to their target. It had already been explained to him, the one they were to meet. A Poe of sorts, one that would know where the others would be located. Or, would hopefully have the knowledge of. Through the Eye Of Truth, Link could both see and speak with the spectre.

The Hero Of Time lead the procession up through the short building by way of the stone stairway. When they arrived upon the top, Link pulled the Eye Of Truth to his eyes to see through. The spector appeared before him, as solid as it could ever be. It was slowly swinging its lantern with a slow, rhythmic beat that couldn't be heard. Link had always wondered why all Poes seemed to carry lanterns. Even the very strong ones he had fought inside the Forest Temple had been carrying lanterns, the Poe Sisters…

For Dark Link, however…

A translucent sight, near illusionary in form, was captured in his gaze. No Eye Of Truth was held in his grasp, or in front of his vision. He narrowed his eyes as his gaze did not advert from the strange apparition. So this was indeed a Poe. Strange. He knew how one appeared, and yet he had been expecting more from this specific one. The Poe began to speak. "Why are you here yet again, Hero Of Time? Didn't I lead you to the Spirit Temple once already?"

"A Poe kidnapped a friend of mine's father." Link replied, disregarding the Poe's earlier question. "You keep track of all the Poes in this area. I believe you know where they are."

"I know where the others reside. I also know where your Talon is." The Poe replied, it's voice almost hollow and echoing. "They spoke to me much earlier. First, you will have to give up something in the form of payment for the information. Even a trade will do."

A hand grasped the Poe tightly on the fabric of the collar, Dark Link the owner of the grip. Link's eyes became wide, his mouth agape in surprise. Whether or not he wanted to understand he didn't know. The Poe seemed just as surprised, although had an instant action to use. It swirled about it's lantern, attempting to set whatever part of Dark Link it could touch aflame. With amazing ease, Dark Link grabbed the torch arm, and as well clutched onto the ghoul's throat with his remaining free hand. No words were asked by either the Poe or Link of how Dark Link was able to see, not only touch, the specter.

"I do not take kindly to your threats." Dark Link frowned upon it. "Then, we will make an exchange. The information…for your life on his plane… I'm extremely aggravated, which means you need to reply soon."

The Poe gulped in the only way a Poe could…


	14. Chapter XIV

Chapter XIV

"It lied three times, and you still got the answer from him." Link shook his head, a faint smile appearing from sheer amusement. "I don't really agree with your methods."

"I never asked you to agree." Dark Link replied with a cold harshness. "I told you before. I was boiling, and intimidation is the quickest means to obtain an answer."

"I've tried it." Link looked toward him. "Why hasn't it worked for me?"

"I have had much more experience with being so."

The two were once again mounted on their steeds, Link atop Epona and Dark Link astride Epoch, continuing onward. The Poe had revealed to them Talon's location, a room inside the Shadow Temple. Deep inside. With only a few hours passing, the duo managed good time, traveling through much of the night and resting the remaining few hours before the sun rose. A few hours sleep passed, and morning finally came.

------------- ------------- -------------

With the morning came as well the arrival at the gates of Kakariko Village. Link lead the way to the graveyard entrance, Dark Link watching closely and keenly every step they made. Information obtained now would no doubt come in useful later, he knew. Somehow. Yet, strange was the layout of the entrance. Torches, unlit, in a circle around them. Dark Link realized that all would need to be lit. There were no lit torches already for them to feed from the flames. He looked over his shoulder, gazing at Link, who seemed to know the method that needed to be done.

"You have the fire arrows." He stated. "Or, do you have something else that will work just as well?"

Links hook his head. "No, they have to be lit at the same time. Move back out of the circle, and watch this."

Dark Link obeyed, stepping out and watching Link move to the exact center, the torches evenly spaced all around him. With a yell, Link reached upward, as if going to grab something, flames beginning to form and lick at his fingertips. Forming a tight fist, he sank into a kneeling position, hitting the ground hard with his fist. Intense heat surrounded Link, forming into a shield for just a second before spreading outwards onto the unlit torches, the tops instantly bursting into flames. Link returned to standing, looking around at the torches with personal approval. Dark Link had seen this attack before. Link had used it on him several times in succession while having fought him the first time in the Water Temple. He much more enjoyed just feeling the heat than feeling both the heat and the pain.

There was a short chiming tone, and part of the stone wall ahead of them disappeared, revealing a dark tunnel beyond.

"That's where we're going." Link turned around, looking at Dark Link, then turning once again to advert his gaze back to the dark tunnel. "There are a few hidden traps, even hidden rooms. The Eye Of Truth will have to be used a lot, but if you can see them as easily as you had that Poe then it won't be a problem for you."

"I don't even know myself why I was able to see it, so don't assume anything." Dark Link replied. "I would much more prefer it if you still told me before I am to step off into some bottomless pit."

"Don't worry. I will." Link smirked. "Besides, there aren't any bottomless pits. They all eventually end."

Sometimes Dark Link felt like hitting Link. Really hard. He may not feel the urge to kill him any longer, but the urge to maim him had taken its place.

Dark Link saw many traps, secret openings, and other such things as Link led him deeper into the Shadow Temple. There were few keeses, which all met their end with arrows piercing them. Dark Link, at one point, surprised himself when a keese flew towards Link's back… He sliced it in half with the Dark Master Sword, and the slain creature fell to the ground. Link only smiled and motioned for them to go on. Dark Link, however, felt strange. It was indeed a surprise to find oneself saving someone that had been considered an enemy for so long.

When they arrived at the entrance platform of the Death Barge, the one Link had taken long ago to reach the other half of the Shadow Temple, Dark Link stopped short of stepping onto the platform. Through his own sight, he saw nothing there but a vast deepness. Link, who was wearing the Eye Of Truth, saw the barge, and yet Dark Link did not. He did not trust anything that he could not see…

"Last time I had to fight two Stalfos for passage." Link said as he looked at the barge, stopping in his steps on the platform. He looked over his shoulder at Dark Link, then turned around upon seeing that he seemed hesitant. "What's wrong?"

"I don't see the Death Barge." Dark Link admitted. "There is nothing there."

"Even wearing the Eye Of Truth I can see it." Link said, looking once again toward the barge. He removed the Eye Of Truth from in front of him, peering into the gloomy darkness at the immense wooden ship. It was still there, not having changed shape nor size, and was still there despite the lack of magic sight. "Maybe something is wrong with your eyes."

"Or, maybe…" Dark Link said, picking up a nearby rock in one hand. He gripped the rock firmly, feeling the hard, solid substance of it, before throwing it hard at where the wooden vessel should have been located. "…something with my sight is right."

Link could not help but become wide-eyed as his counterpart had proven the sudden nonexistence of the Death Barge. The rock, which Link had seen thrown, had passed directly through the wood, not stopping in its momentum any as it traveled into the underworld vastness below. Link attempted to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. He once again turned to look at Dark Link.

"This time, I stopped you from stepping off into a bottomless pit." Dark Link smirked.

"I suppose…" Link said, pushing away his surprise. "…we should find another way of crossing."

-------------

The other way of crossing was found nearly an hour later, with the route concerning traversing the grating along the roof, which Link had no idea existed. Dark Link had been the one to find it, but Link had been the one to suggest that they could travel across it. The going was slow. Exceptionally slow… The movements the two of them were making resembled a lot like crawling across the ceiling, and by the end both were resting on the ground, sitting in a slouched position, letting their arm and leg muscles relax.

"I hope that we don't have to go back that way." Dark Link said as he rose to a standing position. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his glove.

"It was a lot farther than I had thought." Link said, standing himself up as well. "You have to remember, it only took a minute or so to cross when I took the barge, and even then I was fighting!"

"Don't judge anything by how long it takes to fight!" Dark Link frowned. "Time always seems shorter."

"At least we're here." Link ignored his darker half's frown, pointing toward the door with the large Boss Key symbol across the front.

It took the two of them together to push one of the doors of the double-door entrance open. Because of the power that the Master Sword had given him, Link had been much stronger than he was at the moment, and could easily move the door by himself back when he had last come here. Beyond the door was a chamber larger than any Dark Link could have remembered. Or, at least, it seemed larger, the pitch black darkness surrounding the place where they stood so vast that neither could even comprehend what the depth of the room really was. Dark Link looked down at the surface below their boots. Experimentally, he hit the strange, cloth-like surface with the toe of his boot.

Bum…

"A drum." Dark Link said, looking at Link. "What sort of enemy did you fight here?"

"A very large one." Link replied. "Big hands. Ugly mug. Invisible. I had to use the Eye Of Truth to find him just to hit him, and only arrows could hurt him! Had to use the Hover Boots as well. Every time he hit the drum, I bounced up in the air otherwise."

Bongo Bongo… Dark Link knew that name. He had learned it from the small knowledge that the Water Temple had given him when its magic had saved his life. Bongo Bongo was the more eccentric of the guardians, but instead of regenerating as Morpha had, Bongo Bongo had become the very darkness itself that surrounded him and Link now. At least, Dark Link was glad for, Bongo Bongo was no longer dangerous to them.

Near the center of the drum, Dark Link spied a Poe. Just a normal looking Poe, not anything special. Link seemed to have spied him at about the same time as well, and began walking toward him. Link drew the Gilded Sword, carrying it by his side as he approached the apparition cautiously. Dark Link approached as well, though stayed a couple of steps behind Link, placing himself as backup if he was needed.

"Where's Talon?" Link asked the Poe forcefully.

The Poe didn't seem to have heard him. It was still looking the other way, waving its lantern as it gave its annoying Poe laugh. Finally, it turned around, looking at Link, showing the Hylian that it had indeed heard what had been said.

"I'm asking you, where is Talon?" Link asked again, this time not as forcefully, but hard enough. "There's someone back at his home who is worried about him."

"What are you doing, Link?" Dark Link asked, looking at his counterpart. "I've never known a Poe to care about worry. It's a bad subject to bring up."

Suddenly, the Poe seemed so frightened, as if the cold, clammy hand of death beyond death had reached out to touch its shoulder. The Poe was shivering, holding its lantern close to its body, its Poe eyes wide with fear.

"Was that you, Lord Bongo Bongo?" The Poe asked, looking out at the darkness.

Dark Link narrowed his eyes, frowning. "It was me, you insignificant cretin."

The Poe turned, now looking directly in Dark Link's direction, but the stare the frightened creature was giving was staring directly past Dark Link. It was then the black clad Hylian realized something, something of great importance and value. The Poe could not see him. Although he didn't understand why, he didn't ask, either.

Link watched as Dark Link smiled a half smile, coming out more as of a smirk. "What are you up to?"

Dark Link looked at Link as if saying 'Just watch' without words. "Answer the Hylian, Poe."

Dark Link nodded to Link, and Link asked his question once more. "Where is Talon?"

"Talon is safe. Safe and sound. We Poe just wanted the Lon Lon milk because it has the ability to increase life." The Poe said to Link, willingly giving the answer. "Even the dead like to feel life through our being, even if it lasts only for a little while."

"But why kidnap Talon?" Link asked then. "Why didn't you just take the milk?"

"…oh…"

The Poe went blank eyed, obviously not having thought of such a thing earlier. Dark Link started to speak again.

"Take Talon back to Lon Lon Ranch, then leave." He said, ordering.

"I will!" The Poe said, shuddering once again as it heard what he thought to be Bongo Bongo's immense words. The Poe looked at Link, and although it was still shuddering, it said, "We didn't want him anyway!"

With that, the Poe disappeared. Dark Link looked at Link, who was staring questionably at him. A blue transport beam appeared nearby, and Dark Link started to walk towards it. Link began to walk as well, but more slowly. The transport beam would not work until both of them were safely inside.

"What gave you the idea to do that?" Link asked him.

"The Poe couldn't see me. It seemed like a pretty good plan at the time." Dark Link said, then smiled as he looked over his shoulder at Link. "Besides, you said to take control when I thought you were messing things up. Yelling at the Poe obviously wasn't helping."

When the two arrived outside, Dark Link said nothing as he strode toward the exit of Kakariko and began walking down the stone steps to the field below. Epoch was awaiting him there, and he was already longing once again for the peace and solitude of Lon Lon Ranch. Link followed him down, mounting Epona while he mounted Epoch. Link rode beside him across the bridge and partway up the road, stopping when they came to the fork. Three roads. One road let to Lon Lon Ranch. One in the direction of Lake Hylia. The other, to the castle. Link pulled Epona up to a stop, and amazingly enough, Dark Link halted Epoch as well. He knew Link had something to say.

"I'm going to the castle. Business there, you know." Link said. He looked at the ground, then back up at Dark Link, who wasn't bothering to return the glance. "I just want to wish you…good luck. I don't know how much longer I'll be around here."

"Don't think I'll be taking up your duties when you're gone, Hero Of Time." Dark Link told him flatly.

Link chuckled. "I don't expect that much from you. Don't worry."

"But," Dark Link added, then. "Good luck going back to your time. I might find a way of seeing it someday. It would be interesting, seeing what this world was like before Ganondorf ever came."

Link smiled, then squeezed Epona's sides to make her start into a gallop down the dusty road. It would be interesting, indeed! If Link turned back into a kid ever time he ventured into the past, then what would Dark Link turn into? Kid Dark Link? That would probably just help to infuriate Dark Link even more than anything else already managed to do. Link liked that idea.

He liked that idea a lot.

FIN


End file.
